Taxpayers vote for increase to fund post office reopening (From Gazette Series)

Taxpayers in Tytherington vote for increase to fund post office reopening

8:20am Thursday 5th February 2009 in News By Liza-Jane Gillespie

THE people of Tytherington have voted in favour of a 30 percent increase in their council tax to help reopen their post office.

While most councils across the country are trying to keep their increases to a minimum, Tytherington Parish Council will this year be raising its share of council tax by 30 percent.

The decision, which will see every resident of the village pay an extra £8 a year, has received the support of the community.

More than 70 percent of Tytherington residents voted on the proposal, with nine to one voting in favour.

The £4,000 raised through the council tax hike will go towards the £20,000 funding package being proposed to reopen the Tytherington post office branch, which was closed last September.

The branch was closed as part of the Post Office network's restructuring.

Roger Unwin, chairman of Tytherington Parish Council, said: "We have been trying to put forward a funding package and part of that was that we needed to consult all the electors in Tytherington on whether they would be prepared to support the reopening of the post office by increasing the parish precept so they would have to pay for it in their council tax.

"We have had an overwhelming response in support of raising the money within the parish. We had a 73 percent turnout and within that nine to one were in favour.

"We felt with the support that the village has given the post office and the community spirit that there is in Tytherington, we expected a majority but perhaps not the size of the majority."

Northavon MP Steve Webb, who has been working closely with parish leaders to establish a funding package, said: "This result is a great boost to the chances of getting Tytherington post office reopened.

"Along with parish leaders I have been working hard to put together a financial package to enable the post office to be reopened and local support was a vital part.

"Local residents have shown just how much they value having a local post office. I hope that we can now finalise our negotiations with South Gloucestershire Council and sign off on a deal that will see this vital community service restored."

However, despite the community support for the reopening Mr Unwin has said there is still a lot of work to be done before Tytherington gets its post office branch back.

He said: "This is still not a done deal as we are still waiting for financial costings from the Post Office and we have other parts of the funding package that we need to put together, but the Tytherington parish part, along with the support of South Gloucestershire Council, are two critical parts of it."