Campaign to try and save Hoxne Shop and Post Office hits stumbling block
Attempts to save a village post office are hanging by a thread.
Hoxne Community Post Office Group, led by resident Mike Barton, was hoping to secure enough funds to take on the Low Street site.
Since Joan Retallack, the village postmistress and shop owner, retired in September, the group has been working hard to complete the takeover.
But since government Community Ownership Funding grants were stopped and not replaced in May, the group has found it difficult to find alternative funding.
Mr Barton said: “Borrowing money from the Government through the parish council has proved too expensive, while grants from alternative providers like The National Lottery has also proved unviable.”
With the group’s business plan coming under increasing pressure due to additional costs and a lower sales forecast for the first year of the shop, the difficult decision was made to halt the project.
“We now believe that the plan will have to change radically to have a good chance of success,” admitted Mr Barton.
“The post office’s role in our plan was to maintain essential postal and banking services to the community and also provide footfall for the shop.
“But the post office operation looks increasingly unaffordable as we would now be borrowing money to buy the building.”
The group believes that putting its energy into a community shop, run as a volunteer-run enterprise without the post office, would still meet the community’s needs.
“We could offer as many additional services as we can, such as parcel collection and access to cash, to offset the loss of the post office as much as possible,” said Mr Barton.
“We believe this plan delivers the majority of social and economic benefits to the community, although we recognise there are some things we will lose as a result of not having a post office.”
To increase its options, the group is exploring other sites in the village to build a new shop, as this could be cheaper than buying the current building and repairing it.
“With that in mind, we are now on the search for land that might be appropriate – ideally somewhere that is next to a road and centrally located so that it is within easy reach of all the community,” added Mr Barton.
If anyone can help with viable options for land, email hoxnevolunteer@gmail.com.
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