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The future fears for Chorleywood village

 Published on: 13th February 2019   |   By: News Bulletin   |   Category: Uncategorized

The closure of the post office in Chorleywood has been causing concerns in the community after it was broken into in January.

The post office, which is the only one in Chorleywood, holds the only cash machine in the area, which is also out of service until the foreseeable future.

This has caused outrage amongst residents, which is an opinion shared by Chorleywood Residents Association (CRA) chairman, Owen Edis.

Speaking to ChorleywoodNews, he said: “Everyone, including me, is really concerned. When I first moved to the area, there were three banks, a post office and five cash machines. If the permanent closure goes ahead, we will be left with nothing. 

“Chorleywood has around 11,000 residents and half of them use the village to shop. The post office is a vital part of that, without the post office, there will be no cash machine in the village and the nearest one will be around three miles away. It’s not acceptable.

“The older residents of Chorleywood will be affected immensely. If they don’t drive, they will have to rely on other people to get their cash or post their parcels. It isn’t fair.”

Owen, who has since written a letter of concern to the CEO of Post Office Limited, has put the reopening of the shop at the forefront of the CRA’s plans.

He said: “It is at the forefront of our plans to find out what is going on with the shop and to get it reopened for the community.

“We do not agree with the closure and will keep the community posted with any updates.”

Villagers have taken to social media to voice their concerns and to come up with any suggestions which will solve the issue – one of them being to reopen the shop as a community-run Post Office.

County and district councillor for Chorleywood South and Maple Cross, Phil Williams, has supported the idea of introducing a community-run Post Office.

Two in three community-run post offices are opened by the community because a local shop has been shut down.

There are 187 of these kind in the UK.

Cllr Williams said: “There could be a community run shop, like the one in Sarratt. It would be a fantastic idea as we have a great community and it would answer a lot of problems.

“I would be more than happy to hear from any locals that would want to run, or take part in a project of this manner. It would be excellent.”

Cllr Williams has also voiced his concerns about the temporary closure of the local shop.

He said: “It’s really disappointing. The Post Office and the ATM are a vital part of Chorleywood and it will, and is having a major impact on the community.

“Locals shouldn’t have to go to the effort to drive, walk or pay to get to their ‘local’ post office which will be three miles away.

“We previously had five ATM’s and now we have none. I am so frustrated and angry. The government wants us to build new homes in the area, but we don’t have the infrastructure to do this. Potentially 1,000 more homes with no cash machines and no post offices. It doesn’t make sense.”

Following the break in, Chorleywood Parish Council have released a statement announcing the possibility of having post office services in the areas Co-Op shop.

It read: “Chorleywood Post Office has been closed for some time following a break in. The Parish Council are now able to advise that the Post Office in its current location will re-open, however this is not likely to happen in the near future, as there was substantial damage caused internally, which needs to be repaired. The Insurance Company are currently dealing with this.

“It is also known that the owner of the post office, wishes to redevelop the site into flats, which would result in the loss of the post office. 

“The Parish Council now can advise that the Co-Op are looking at the possibility of having post office services within their shop, following their refurbishment.”

The shop has applied to their head office to have an ATM within their premises and CPC have said that it will do everything in its power to ensure that a post office service remains in Chorleywood.

One concerned resident has took to Facebook to voice their opinion.

The post read: “So Chorleywood has no banks, no building societies and now the possibility of no post office. The local shops are struggling, doctors surgeries are over full and our roads are struggling to cope especially when there are problems on the M25, yet there are proposals to build 100s of new homes in the area. Complete madness.”

Plenty of residents have tried to use the cash machine since its closure, with one women stating that Chorleywood is nothing like it used to be.

She said: “They have the cheek to call it a village. Years ago, there was loads of shops and it served the community well, it’s nothing like it used to be.”

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1 Comment

  1. Jeremy Goldbloom May 25th, 2019, 5:12 am

    The CW Residents Association have stated that work is underway to repair the PO, but I have seen no evidence of work going on. Who is telling porkies?

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