THE government's consultation process over post office closures has been condemned as "nothing more than a pre-determined sham" by Cotswold District Council.
A meeting of full council on Tuesday passed a unanimous motion expressing total opposition to plans to cut 27 post offices in Gloucestershire, including 12 in the Cotswolds. The motion deplores the impact that the closures will have on the district.
Among those due to be axed is Weston-sub-Edge while others, including Blockley, Longborough, Temple Guiting, Guiting Power and Stanway are due to be replaced with limited outreach services, as is Great Rollright in West Oxfordshire.
The council is to write to the John Hutton, secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform, to express its concern.
It also plans to write to post office minister Pat McFadden to spell out the irreparable damage it believes the closures will cause to the social fabric of affected communities, and to underline its belief that the consultation process is nothing more than a predetermined sham.
Enterprise portfolio holder Councillor David Fowles, who proposed the motion, said after the meeting: "As a council, we are completely united in our opposition to these plans, which will strike at the very heart of our communities.
"The government is simply not listening. Despite the so-called consultation process, it seems to us that Post Office Ltd has already made its decision and that no amount of protests can stop these swingeing cuts from taking place."
(BLOB) COTSWOLDS MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown is urging his constituents to keep up the pressure over threatened post office closures.
The MP spoke of the "sheer level of opposition" to the closures following the series of public meetings he held across the Cotswolds.
"I have been inundated with correspondence from concerned constituents, as have all the councillors who helped me at the meetings," said Mr Clifton-Brown, who will joined residents in a mass stamp-buying protest in Cirencester next weekend.
The consultation deadline is March 17.
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