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28th February 2008
1. Post Office politics
2. Sponsor our 2008 Marathon team
3. Regional Roadshow
4. Water voles given protection
1. Post Office politics
The
news that many
Government Ministers and Labour MPs are campaigning against Post
Offices being shut down in their constituencies, whilst their
Government continues to support a programme of closures, will not come
as a surprise to many.
In both town and country the network is cherished and any constituency
MP who did not oppose the shutting down of a local Post Office would
face the ire of his or her electorate. MPs instinctively know that a
Post Office is worth more to a local community than the sum of the
services it provides. In fact it is often one of the elements that
defines a community. A village with a pub, a shop, a school and a Post
Office is usually a community. A village without any of these things
is too often simply a dormitory.
Why is there then a widening disconnect between the reality that MPs
accept in their constituency and the policy that their Government
pursues? In part it must be because the bean counters in the
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform do not
understand any value that is not prefixed by a pound sign. Then there
is the image of the Post Office; traditional, old fashioned and to
some at least out dated. When politicians want 'new,' they want
'change'. Governments want to be associated with the internet, IT, the
information superhighway, not tired old Post Offices. We all recognise
the need to keep up with technology, but this shouldn't be at the
expense of traditional community values.
So we are left in a ridiculous situation where hardly a single MP of
any party will deny the value of their own Post Office to their own
community, yet the Government has come up against no serious
opposition in the House of Commons to a national programme of
closures.
Even if the closure of your local Post Office looks inevitable, make
sure your MP is held to account. You cannot be against one closure
without opposing the Government's policy.
You may also want to ask a very simple question. If the Government can
spend £110 billion, £3500 for each of us, to keep a bank with 2
million customers afloat why can't it pay £5 from each taxpayer to
support a Post Office network with 11.4 million customers?
Simon Hart
Chief Executive
2. Sponsor our 2008 Marathon team
The
team picked to run the 2008 Flora London Marathon for the Countryside
Alliance has been announced - and the five brave runners need your
sponsorship.
David Redvers, Nick Wood, Charlie Hills, Matt Fleming and Ed Burge
will tackle the course on Sunday 13th April. Read more about them and
sponsor them
here.
We
are, as always, immensely grateful to the team for believing in our
campaigning work enough to run this gruelling course. The money raised
will be ploughed straight back into political lobbying and promotional
initiatives which will keep rural issues at the forefront of opinion
formers' minds in 2008 and beyond. The Alliance is the voice of the
countryside, but it is only through the fundraising efforts of our
members and supporters that we can remain so. Please sponsor our team
- we are already proud of their commitment, so let's make it count.
3. Regional Roadshow
Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Simon Hart and Chairman Kate Hoey
MP are to undertake a tour of the regions this spring. Although both
will be involved in this Regional Roadshow there may be some dates
which only one or the other can attend. The Regional Roadshow will
enable Simon and Kate to update members face-to-face and also take
questions from them on our continuing campaigning work.
The Regional Roadshow itinerary is as follows (dates and venues will
be added over coming weeks):
-
Thursday 6th
March in the Parkinson Lecture Theatre of the Royal Agricultural
College, Cirencester, starting at 6.30pm.
-
Wednesday 19th
March at the South of England showground, Ardingly at 7.00pm.
-
Thursday 20th
March 2008 at Bangor-on-Dee Racecourse, Bangor-on-Dee, Wrexham at
7pm. Licensed bar. Entry by free ticket obtained from Regional
Director Barry Henderson at barry-henderson@countryside-alliance.org
or call Barry on 01874 704047
-
Wednesday 26th
March at the South Winchester Golf Club at 7pm. If you wish to
attend could you please send an email to sara-rutherford@countryside-alliance.org
so we can ensure numbers can be accommodated.
-
Friday 4th
April 2008 at the Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker in Essex. The
evening will begin with a tour of the Secret Nuclear Bunker at 6.30
pm and will be followed by supper and drinks. Tickets cost £20 which
includes the tour and supper (Under 15's £15). To book your tickets
please contact Miss L. Collinson on 07710 239984
-
A meeting will
be held in Dorset on 9th April - venue TBC
-
A meeting will
be held in the Midlands on 28th April - venue TBC
Please keep an eye on our
events listing for more information.
4. Water voles given protection
From
6th April water voles are to be protected from being killed or taken
from the wild under plans announced by the Government this week. The
Countryside Alliance welcomes the plans, which were announced by DEFRA
Minister for Biodiversity Joan Ruddock.
The water vole population, as many anglers will know, has declined by
90 per cent in 20 years. It will now join other species including
otters, angel sharks, roman snails and certain types of seahorses in
being protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981.
The Times reported "from April 6 it will be an offence to kill or
disturb water voles, and any developers trying to build on their
habitat will have to catch every specimen in the area and provide them
with a new home."
In the News
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