Title: Your name and address here
Author: JohnW
Company: .

Your name and address here:
Please edit this template as you see fit!

Date…

Att The  Honourable Quentin Davies MP		
The House of Commons,
LONDON
SW1A  OAA

Dear Sir

I am writing to request that you support the villagers of Rippingale and the ‘Friends of Rippingale Post Office’ action group in opposing the closure of Rippingale Village Branch Post Office, Rippingale, PE10 0SU.

I believe that the information used as criteria for the decision to close Rippingale is inaccurate in the following ways.

Information relating to customer numbers is incorrect and does not correspond to the numbers currently using the branch.

Information relating to our proximity to the nearest fully-operational branch is incorrect. The nearest Office is in Morton, not Pointon as stated by the Post Office. The mileage to Morton stated on the Post Office website is 2.5 miles; this is incorrect. The correct distance is over 3 miles

Folkingham Post Office is listed as an alternative service in the branch closure leaflet but has itself been singled out for closure, and is given Rippingale as an alternative.

If the Post Office can get that sort of information wrong, what else have they got wrong?

It is not possible to use the limited bus services to get to other post offices in the surrounding towns and villages, and there is no footpath to any of the neighboring Post Offices making it a dangerous walk along the A15 to Morton.

The closure would badly affect the most vulnerable members of our community; the young, the elderly, family carers and the disabled, the  groups most dependant on local services and the least mobile.

An ‘outreach’ service is proposed but this will not meet the needs of our busy community. It is not financially viable for the Village Stores to run such a service, and the loss of the Post Office business could close the Village Stores within six to twelve months so the village could end up with no Postal Service or Shop whatsoever.  Not only will this cause great hardship to those without transport, but it will also lead to an enormous increase in the number of car journeys made for small purchases. This is a direct contradiction of the Government’s policies on global warming.

Yours faithfully

C:\Documents and Settings\JohnW\Templates\Normal.dot
Page  of