RE-OPENING OF UPLANDS POST OFFICE

That this House congratulates Stroud Town Council on brokering a deal that on Monday 10th November 2008 saw the re-opening of Uplands Post Office, Stroud, one of 2,500 closed under the Network Change Programme and the first and to-date only stand alone post office that has been re-opened, funded by a town or parish council; notes that Uplands, like Buckhurst Hill in Essex, is at the centre of their communities, commending the role played by Essex County Council and Stroud Town Council in keeping post offices open, showing local government can intervene successfully in this process; and requests the Government to ask Post Office Ltd to promote and make freely available all the necessary information on the arrangements made in Stroud and Essex so that other councils can learn from this to work to secure the future of their post offices.