Chairman of Meeting: Rodney Howlett - Parish Councillor

Speakers:

Jane & Bill Munnoch,

David Lingham (Village Retail Services Association "ViRSA")

David Coulton

Following Sunday's meeting, it was felt that whilst it is impractical to provide full minutes of the meeting we should, for the benefit of the many villagers unable to attend, provide a summary of the issues discussed and the intended way forward.

The meeting was extremely well attended with over 250 people in or around the hall. Further messages of apology and support were received from those unable to attend due to other commitments. Clearly, the numbers attending indicates the considerable support for our retaining a shop and post office in the village.

Following Rodney's introduction and outline of the agenda, Jane & Bill provided a very detailed statement as to the reasons for the closure. The principal factors highlighted include:

Whilst, other issues were discussed, the above provides a general resume of the principal factors. Questions were asked from the floor. The principal issues raised were:

It was made clear that it is not currently intended to sell the property, it has been Jane and her family home for many years and they wished to remain there.

This avenue had been extensively explored prior to the meeting and is felt by virtually everyone to be the immediate solution. By letting the shop, this provides continuity of the business, it has the relevant planning consents and most importantly, is the only truly suitable premises in the village - it is at the heart of the community. The request that they reconsider letting the premises (if only for 12 months whilst an alternative location was sought) was pursued at the meeting, three sides and currently, provides facilities for the shop. Furthermore, they would still be living on the premises and this again is not an option they are willing to agree to. Their reasons are that the shop forms an integral part of the property - their home surrounds it on there would be the related security implications.

The position is being advertised and if anyone is able to provide suitable premises, Post Office Counters Limited will be pleased to hear from them. Due to the short notice period given, there is almost certainly insufficient time to enable a new permanent location to be opened to coincide with the closure of the current Post Office. However, it is understood, that Post Office Counters will endeavour to provide a temporary service for the payment of pensions and other benefits. The foregoing could be in the form of a mobile visiting Post Office operating for a few hours one day a week - they can use premises such as the Village Halt Pub or School. The foregoing happened when Little Missenden post office closed.

The general consensus and considerable discontent was as to the timing and lack of notice being given - as at the meeting we have only 8 weeks to find and open alternative premises. Jane & Bill stated that they do not feel able to continue any longer, the stresses and workload are damaging their health. It is appreciated that their decision to close so quickly will cause difficulties. Both will seek to assist people wherever they can and support alternative proposals for another shop but they are unwilling to defer the shop closure (the Post Office closure could not now be deferred) nor let the shop.

Considerable discussion took place regarding the planning position, with Rodney having previously read a letter from the Planning Departinent. The simplistic and current position appears to be that whilst there is a demand for a shop in the village, change of use to residential will not be forthcoming. If alternative premises were found for a shop, then this situation would change. It was highlighted that whilst planning consent may not be available for residential, there is nothing to prevent the shop being closed and left empty with curtains at the windows. As Jane & Bill stated, they have no current plans for the property or to sell it and as such, accept the planning position.

Obviously, many people expressed various views as to how they see and feel the position could be addressed, the above is only intended to highlight the principal points. At the end many people expressed their appreciation and understanding for the service and long hours worked by Bill & Jane in running the shop for the last 8 years.

David Lingham of ViRSA then highlighted the various aspects of running a village shop and several of the community ventures his organisation has worked with in preserving shops and post offices in villages. The immediate difficulty we have is the lack of premises - most communities have access to the previous shop's premises by either renting or buying. Most importantly, David emphasised to us that for a shop to be commercially viable, it needs the full support of the village and surrounding area - sales of probably at least £4k to £5k per week are needed (it was confirmed that the village shop is currently achieving just below this figure). To put the foregoing in context - Hyde Heath has around 1,000 residents (adults and children) - each one of these needs to spend a minimum of £4 per week in the shop. At the opening of the meeting, Rodney asked for a show of hands to show how many people had used the shop during the last week and the last month - support of around 90% was shown. You must however ask, how many spend £4 every week for each member of their household and what about the c700 not at the meeting? Sunday opening would help increase sales but as discussed later, there will be some loss of business for any new venture. David also highlighted the availability of grants - we could possibly secure up to 50% of the costs of setting up a shop in the village.

David Coulton had already approached Bill & Jane regarding the renting of the shop - even for a limited period whilst alternative premises were explored and to see if the venture could be made to work. As previously discussed, this would not be acceptable to Bill & Jane.

Based upon the above and with Rodney, we have looked at other possible properties in the village. To purchase a property would not be financially viable, even if a suitable property could be found and planning permission obtained, the shop could not support the size of loan needed - even if we fund raised. The foregoing also partly applies to renting another property. As everyone gathered, the value of a shop is considerably less than if the same property had residential planning consent. If we purchased or rented a property, its value would be substantially reduced by our obtaining planning permission to use it as a shop. Looking to the future, if the new shop had to close for any reason (not viable for example) then we would be faced with the same planning issue that Jane & Bill currently have, we could not sell the property for other than with the commercial use. Would a landlord be willing to place himself or herself in such a position? Other difficulties could include a landlord or lender requiring personal guarantees from the tenant.

Without the existing shop and/or someone coming forward to become the Sub Post Master - possibly using part of their house or business premises, their does not appear to be any possibility of our retaining a permanent Post Office in the village. The levels of transactions through a Post Office will diminish over the next few years as more pensions and other benefit payments are made directly into bank or building society accounts. Essentially, the core business will be the sale of stamps - these can be made without the need for a post office counter. It appears that Post Office Counters Ltd will be making temporary arrangements until such time as some form of permanent provision for payment of pensions and benefits can be made.

Following investigations, it appears that the only potential alternative to using the existing shop, would be the acquisition of a portable building. The one looked at is purpose built and provides a counter and with high quality display units - it looks very good but clearly lacks the atmosphere of the current property. It has been quoted to us that a fidly equipped and operational unit would cost around £20k - obviously, we would need to look at the size of the unit needed, the provision of storage, staff facilities and costs of installing services. This type of unit can provide the space to enable a fairly similar range of goods as per the existing shop (a 50ft x 12ft unit provides approximately the same floor area). Slow moving and unprofitable lines would have to be dropped but there are some new lines, which could be introduced - such as ftesh bakery goods baked on the premises. Unfortunately, the difficulties of servicing the newspaper rounds would probably mean that such a shop would have to discontinue deliveries - hopefully, most people would be willing to walk up and collect their papers. Without newspaper sales, the business would not be viable. Sunday opening from say 9.00am to lunchtime would also be essential. It is understood that a portable shop would probably not be acceptable to the Post Office for security reasons.

The establishment of the above would be dependent upon:

• Locating a suitable site - paying a ground rent. Whilst, certain Council Departments indicate their being keen to assist us in retaining a shop in the village, Planning could be another difficulty. It is believed that the Planners will resist any planning application to locate the unit on the School/Common side of Weedon Hill - essentially, we would have to remain within the envelope of Weedon Hill, Brays Lane, Brays Green Lane and Keepers Lane. The foregoing considerably limits the potential availability of sites - clearly, the shop needs to be at the centre of our community and located to catch passing through trade.

• Cost & Risk - with a potential grant of up to 50%, we could raise the balance by forming a village cooperative and selling £ 100 shares. The foregoing spreads the financial outlay and involves more people in the shop, at the same time removMig the problem of commercial interest charges. Without a bank loan repayment or commercial property rental, this should make the shop viable at a lower level of sales. All profits, after staff costs and overheads could be accumulated and say at the end of 5 years distributed to the shareholders to repay their investment (if they wished). If the shop failed, the unit could be removed and sold - if we had only invested say 50% of its cost then we could potentially get our money back or at least a major part! By this route no one is giving a personal guarantee - their maximum liability will be their share investment. Based upon current indications, we could probably raise the full £20k from the village and have some additional fimding available, this is without taking account of any grants.

• Financial Viability - we have seen that the existing shop is virtually achieving sales to make it commercially viable. Without the need to repay a loan or pay a commercial rental, overheads will be reduced. Hopefully, the village will feel more inclined to support such a venture - not just for the first month or two but ongoing. People must surely appreciate that a village store cannot compete with the supermarkets or other food retailers on pricing. No one expects people to undertake their weekly main shopping in the village shop. However, there must exist the ability to spend more in the village - what if a tin of beans costs a couple of 'p' more at the village shop - how much does it cost and how long does it take to drive to Amersham, Chesham or Great Missenden. By ceasing to have a shop in the village we are hurting the elderly and the weakest members of our community. It was very noticeable how busy the shop was when we had a little snow the other week and people expected the shop to have what they wanted.

• Staffing - Ruth is willing to continue working in the shop, assistance could be provided from the several offers of help already received and by advertising - these would be salaried positions. People must appreciate that we are talking about long term help and not when and if they feel able. A good idea could be a rota of parents - one looks after the others child(ren) whilst they work one day and then reverse it the next day, thus providing each with some income.

We do need to try to maintain some form of continuity - we now only have around 7 weeks in which to do anything.

The meeting was then asked vote as to whether we, as a community, should continue to explore the continuation of a shop in the village - this was carried virtually unanimously. It was agreed that a working party is formed, a considerable number of people came forward to volunteer and this is currently being worked upon with a view to organising a meeting. The working party should be operational within a few days.

Until, we are able to provide full details of the working party and contact information, anyone offering to assist or with ideas should contact either:

Rodney Howlett - 774209

Or

David Coulton - 775967