Andrew Griffith MP, the Member of Parliament for Arundel & South Downs, has praised the community of Coldwaltham for successfully fighting to save its Post Office counter.
The MP joined the campaign following the sudden closure of Coldwaltham Post Office at Sandham Hall in September 2024 after more than 40 years of a service operating in the village. Local villagers have been fighting for it to reopen ever since. A petition was signed by more than 300 residents.
Andrew Griffith, as the local MP, twice wrote to Post Office chief executive Nick Read to make the case for maintaining the service and joined meetings with the community campaigners to make the case to Post Office executives.
After a hard-won battle, it was agreed that Coldwaltham could trial an outreach service, and Andrew was delighted to see this in operation on its opening day last June (2024).
Since then, figures have been collated on its usage, and on the 29th January the community campaign group met with Post Office Ltd who confirmed that the trial was indeed a success and could formally re-open.
Simon Berry, Chairman of Sandham Hall and one of the leads on the campaign group, said: “This is a huge achievement. We’ve moved from an abrupt closure which lasted for 9 months - and Post Office Ltd stating that our post office would not re-open - to having a working post office in our community again. We are not aware of any other community that has achieved this.”
With the service now saved, the community will now explore ways to extend the hours it is allowed to operate in a fair and sustainable way, working with the parish council and residents.
Andrew Griffith MP said:
“I am absolutely delighted by the news that Coldwaltham has saved its important Post Office counter. It was no mean feat and took a substantial amount of effort and tenacity from all involved, as well as the incredible support from residents themselves who ensured that the trial service was a success. I would personally like to praise Simon Berry at Sandham Hall, and Guy Nelson and John Evans of the Coldwaltham Parish Council, for their work behind this.
“It can sometimes feel like a David and Goliath battle to protect rural services, but amazing things can happen with whole community support.”
