Middlezoy Village Shop and Post Office
Shop Opens October 1, 2007
Middlezoy Village Shop and Post Office opened, October 1, 2007. Congratulations!
Vernon Robinson, Chairman of Middlezoy Parish Council, tells how the village 'breathed life' into their community shop and post office.
“Grasp the Nettle”
People asked me what the Parish Council were going to do about the closure of our shop and post office. I thought about this and called an open meeting in early September 2006. We had an excellent attendance. Everyone had their say and input. Consensus was that we should survey every household. An in-depth survey was constructed, delivered and returned for dissection and research. The return rate was about 52% (which was quite outstanding). The general opinion was that, yes, we needed this outlet, and should proceed with the idea of establishing a new Post Office and Community Shop. Many offers of both financial and volunteer help were received.
The next question was, where would we site it? And we needed money; quite a lot of money. For the site, there were only two options: the village hall car park or the Methodist chapel car park. Both were good from the point of view of existing services, such as electricity, water, drains. But the chapel won, because it is central to the village, easy to get to and on a flat plain.
I approached the Rev Debbie Borda and she was “positively excited”! Various criteria had to be met, but in essence a basic agreement was made.
The next thing was finances. The project had to be carefully costed from start to finish. I then approached several companies regarding a suitable building. Only one company showed any real interest - using the very high specification laid down by the Post Office. We needed the Post Office to be “on side” and I had several meetings with the Post Office Rural Advisor and the Post Office Security Officer. Both have been supportive and helpful throughout the project.
I started to apply for grant aid and so far £41,830 has been raised,to cover both the capital and revenue costs.Large donations included over £16,000 from the Post Office, £14,000 from Somerset Rural Renaissance Partnership and £6000 from Sedgemoor District Council Regeneration.
We have also had some incidental costs (such as solicitor’s fees to sort out the lease with the Chapel). As I write this article, we have a letter of intent and draft paperwork from the Chapel Authorities. We do however have a minor hiccup. The Chapel have problems with their roof! These repairs have to be done during the school summer holidays. From a Health and Safety point of view we have limited access during these works. I agree with this caution, but it should not have a great effect on our project (as the building and other Post Office equipment have long ordering times). We ordered the building at the end of June with an August delivery date.
We formed a small working group for the project and have also found an “Old Postmaster” - I am very pleased to say that our previous postmaster (from a few years ago) has been officially appointed by the Post Office.
In conclusion, we plan to have the post office up and running in September, with the shop closely following. It has taken just a year to realise our aims!
I would like to thank the many people who have supported this project. Make no mistake, we have done well - but we still have a long way to go. Middlezoy Post Office and Shop will need the community’s continued support for its survival. Don’t hesitate, give it!
I’m often asked what advice I would give others when faced with a similar situation and I reply “grasp the nettle”.
Bucking the trend...
By Simon Angear
A physical help from Sedgemoor District Council, the police, Marks & Spencer, Somerset County Council - and a community whip-round which added a vital £2,500.
Middlezoy Parish Council chairman Vernon Robinson, who worked tirelessly on the project despite being diagnosed with cancer, said the arrival of the post office would be a huge boost to the village.
He said: "It's a real phoenix rising out of the ashes, I didn't think we'd get there but we gave it a go, and now it looks like we will. I'm very excited.
"We didn't want to lose our services, a lot of people wanted them back, and we really needed our post office and shop to save a 15-mile round trip to the bigger areas.
"It's great seeing people getting involved and I believe communities should help themselves."
After an initial survey to assess village opinion, villagers have organised most aspects of the building themselves - from finding the right structure to putting in a ramp for disabled visitors, sorting out the legalities to redesigning the electrics.
It has been built off-site as a pre-fabricated structure, and was winched into site by a crane.
Story from Bridgewater Mercury