Public meeting on shop’s future
Liss Forest Post Office - residents association is looking for someone to take over the business
A ‘SAVE Our Shop’ campaign has been launched in a bid to ensure that Liss Forest shop and post office stays open when its proprietor retires.
Penny Edmund-White has confirmed that she will be stepping down from the business later this year.
Now Liss Forest Residents Association is co-ordinating a campaign to try and find someone willing and able to take it over.
“We don’t have the expertise to run it ourselves, but we are hoping we can play a role in finding someone who can,” said association member Derek Slee.
He and his fellow members distributed 500 leaflets and questionnaires last weekend, and residents are being asked to drop the completed questionnaires into special boxes at the shop in Forest Road and at the Temple Inn.
A public meeting will be held at the Evangelical Hall in Liss Forest next Tuesday, February 12, at 8pm.
Mrs Edmund-White took the unusual step of attending a meeting of Liss Parish Council last year to announce her decision to retire, and to explain some of the difficulties she and her husband have faced.
Mr Slee said: “At a committee meeting of Liss Forest Residents Association, she announced she would retire but not until a further six months have elapsed, in order to give the local population, and the residents association, time to look into all the possibilities of keeping the last retail outlet in the area open.”
He said that, ideally, the association would like to identify someone with the relevant expertise who would be interested in running the business.
“The post office and shop provides a really good service, but we have got to face the fact that there is a Tesco Express with a sub post office just a mile down the road,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Post Office has announced that two former village sub post offices which shut down last year are to re-open in new locations, operating on two days a week.
The sub post office which formerly operated in Rake village stores will run from Rake Garden Centre in London Road from 2pm-5pm on Tuesdays, and 9am-noon on Thursdays.
Greatham sub post office will operate from the village hall in Petersfield Road from 2.30-4.30pm on Tuesdays, and 9.30-11.30am on Thursdays.
Post Office regional manager Mark Lawrence said: “Both will be run as outreach services. This involves a sub postmaster from Midhurst post office visiting the communities at fixed times to offer services from a host location. We are confident the hosted outreach services will meet the needs of these local communities.”
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Weather for Petersfield
Wednesday 22 May 2013
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