Community appeal to keep PO open longer

Concern at impact of closure during latest lockdown

Community leaders are hoping to persuade shop owners to keep a closurethreatened post office open for a few more months so villagers are not forced to travel elsewhere to access services during lockdown.

Members of Luncarty, Redgorton and Moneydie Community Council (LRMCC) decided to write to bosses of the Spar in Luncarty to ask them to consider keeping its post office open until the current lockdown has at least partially eased during the group’s latest monthly meeting.

It comes after customers received a letter from the Post Office earlier this month saying its branch within the Marshall Way store will be closing in mid-February as its operators have signalled they are no longer interested in running it.

The letter said: “We are writing to inform you that, regrettably, following the resignation of the operator of the partner service and the withdrawal of the premises for Post Office use, the [Luncarty] branch will be closing temporarily on Saturday, February 13.

“I would like to assure you that we are currently investigating the options available which will enable us to reinstate a post office service to the local community.

“In exploring this, it is important that any future service is sustainable for the person operating the service, and for [the]

Post Office.”

Discussing the matter on Tuesday night, LRMCC chairman George Black said he had received further correspondence from shop owners CJ Lang saying the company had decided the post office was no longer “viable”.

Mr Black added someone had already suggested the group organise a petition protesting the impending closure but he felt that would not change anything.

Vice chair Frank Stevenson said the timing of the closure was unfortunate as villagers might end up needing to take private or public transport outwith the local area to access postal services at a time when people are still being told to stay at home.

He recommended the group write to CJ Lang to ask them to consider keeping the post office open for another couple of months to reduce the chances of someone travelling from the village during a risky period then catching COVID.

“We’ve got elderly people in the village who have been using that post office, particularly over Christmas time,” he said. “If people are going to have to jump on a bus and travel into Perth, [that] will do nothing to help them avoid catching COVID.”

Strathtay councillor Ian James agreed and said the group could add his name to any letter it penned