Topic: IF THERE WAS EVER A NEED

[DORIAN]

 I had the need to use a Post office, obviously, a town a hamlet the size of Dilton Marsh was the  nearest  as opposed to the 19000 plus population of westbury that has no such service.
i had a a hefty 100 plus large letters to be weighed and stamped. Obviously this caused me total embarrassment whilst other users just wanted a stamp or two, waiting behind me.... i turned to fellow customers numerous times to aplogise   or my time at the counter. the place was jam packed.
i see no development from our , SO PROACTIVE council in insisting a Post office for our growing town. It really is quite depressing the size of westbury being left left out as garbage.
no bank
no post office
No Building society
No women dress shop
un  policed Police station

is there anyone out there  that gives a sugar

[Michael]

A great shame that a once service to the public was sold off by our Conservative government and now even Crown Post Office establishments, like the one in Trowbridge are closing.
If it doesn't make a profit for it's shareholders, be it a bank, a shop, or a post office, it will close. Service industries, public transport, utilities, and even education has to be profitable or self supporting.
This is all happening in the fifth largest economy in the world, the home to 134 billionaires, and 715,000 millionaires, and many multi national companies avoiding and evading fair taxation.
Perhaps we should insist that a fairer taxation system is put in place nationally, a system for the many not the few that allows our government to pay for and bring back service to the community.
Perhaps instead of criticising hard working unpaid town councillors, we should look at the current Tory government who allow and support these injustices.
Perhaps we should insist that services industries, public transport, utilities, Royal Mail, the Post Office and education are brought back into total public ownership and run for the benefit of the public not the profit of investors.

[Bob DeBilda]

Michael, that’s one of the best posts you’ve put on here. I agree with everything you said.   

[Shizzy]

A great shame that a once service to the public was sold off by our Conservative government and now even Crown Post Office establishments, like the one in Trowbridge are closing.
If it doesn't make a profit for it's shareholders, be it a bank, a shop, or a post office, it will close. Service industries, public transport, utilities, and even education has to be profitable or self supporting.
This is all happening in the fifth largest economy in the world, the home to 134 billionaires, and 715,000 millionaires, and many multi national companies avoiding and evading fair taxation.
Perhaps we should insist that a fairer taxation system is put in place nationally, a system for the many not the few that allows our government to pay for and bring back service to the community.
Perhaps instead of criticising hard working unpaid town councillors, we should look at the current Tory government who allow and support these injustices.
Perhaps we should insist that services industries, public transport, utilities, Royal Mail, the Post Office and education are brought back into total public ownership and run for the benefit of the public not the profit of investors.

Sadly the Tories will still run them into the ground, look at what they have done to the public services. Anyway we're all in it together said David Camoron, just before MP's got a massive inflation busting pay rise.

[DORIAN]

ok so that is your theory. as to why we are but it does not give a  positive solution to improving the plight of this town!!

[Bob DeBilda]

the solution is obvious. Just reverse all the damage that the Tories have done to all the services, etc.

Trouble is I don't trust any other party to do that. Including labour.

[John GL]

Michael, that’s one of the best posts you’ve put on here. I agree with everything you said.   

No, it's just a party political broadcast.  My view, based on personal experience of nationalised industries, is precisely the opposite! High street shops, bank branches, post offices etc. are closing because there's less need for them - people are using alternatives so bricks-and-mortar establishments are becoming uneconomic.  Propping them up with taxpayers' money may sound attractive but it never works as intended.  I regret the trend, but Michael's proposed solutions don't make sense.

[Michael]

Michael, that’s one of the best posts you’ve put on here. I agree with everything you said.   

No, it's just a party political broadcast.  My view, based on personal experience of nationalised industries, is precisely the opposite! High street shops, bank branches, post offices etc. are closing because there's less need for them - people are using alternatives so bricks-and-mortar establishments are becoming uneconomic.  Propping them up with taxpayers' money may sound attractive but it never works as intended.  I regret the trend, but Michael's proposed solutions don't make sense.

The post is what it is, I make no apologies for that, but you, like me, are comfortably retired and relatively computer literate so perhaps not affected by these issues as much as some others.
The simple fact is, that many elderly use and need local local post offices and banks, and like to shop locally, and it has become increasingly difficult as more of these facilities close..
One of the major reasons for the closure of retail outlets is that internet suppliers and retail shops don't operate on a level playing field, as I said in my original post, many of the large internet companies don't pay as much tax as they should, and they don't suffer the extortionate business taxes that high street shops do.
I do not propose propping any business up, but I do say that some services are just that, services, and should be run as such.. for example, the utility companies.
Many of these privatised companies pay out large sums in dividends to shareholders, even when their registered profit is negligible and the service provided is poor.
Yes, I believe that these services should be run for the benefit of the consumer because they are essential services, we cannot live without them. We have no choice, and the competitive nature of these services is relatively non existent, they operate as a cartel..
Wiltshire Council has done little to ease the problems faced by small retail businesses, on the contrary they have increased parking charges and business rates, and reduced services.
I, like you regret this trend, but I believe that the selling off our publicly own facilities and cutting services has not resulted in improvement, it has not worked, this policy and austerity measures have in fact meant a lowering of standards and services.   
 
   

[John GL]

Well, we've been over this before and we're never going to agree!  My take is that privatised companies have done a much better job than their nationalised predecessors, as I've seen from the inside as well as being a customer.  You should remember the six-month wait to get a telephone, the chaos that was British Rail, the frequent water supply interruptions, the appalling quality of British Leyland cars, the universal "take it or leave it" attitude etc. 

Bank branches and post offices are closing because they're under-used.  If we want to keep them (and high street shops) we should use them more.  I do my bit by shopping locally, using cash and cheques rather than cards and never buying anything on line which I can get in Westbury.

[Michael]

Well, we've been over this before and we're never going to agree!  My take is that privatised companies have done a much better job than their nationalised predecessors, as I've seen from the inside as well as being a customer.  You should remember the six-month wait to get a telephone, the chaos that was British Rail, the frequent water supply interruptions, the appalling quality of British Leyland cars, the universal "take it or leave it" attitude etc. 

As you say we have been over this before but there are many that only see the chaos that is the rail service we have today. The "take it or leave" attitude that is current with the electricity suppliers, the summer water shortages, bans on hose pipes etc, when water leaks go unrepaired, where the quality of water in some areas is suspect.
Many of the improvements we now see in the telecom industry, in the water industry and in other industries, are the result of improved technology.
We have learnt many lesson, but one of our major lessons is that for the majority, privatisation does not work, it simply provides high salaries for top execs and large dividends for investors.   
 

[John GL]

Water is an industry I know a lot about, having worked for the Metropolitan Water Board, Thames Water Authority and Thames Water Utilities in turn.  I can assure you that customer service, water quality and resource management are all enormously better than they were before 1989 (I can claim a modest role in improving the first of those), while leakage is lower, hosepipe bans and drought orders are rarer and charges are realistic.  Privatised industries really do provide better and more efficient services than nationalised ones.  I know you don't want to believe it, but take it from one who was ambivalent about privatisation in 1989 and was thoroughly convinced shortly afterwards.

Anyway, back to post office and bank branches, which is where we came in.  As with everything else, use them or lose them!  Warminster and Trowbridge aren't far away - the hypothetical car-less pensioner can easily get there by bus.

[Bob DeBilda]

No doubt you were offered shares at a very good rate when it was privatised.
Kinda makes your mind up that it’s a good idea when you see them treble in a few months. Because they were undersold.

[John GL]

What cynicism!  My view of privatisation changed because I could see the effects on customer service and general efficiency.  I never took much notice of the share price, and the only shares I had were received as performance-related pay awards.

I don't believe the water companies were undersold.  The Exchequer received a substantial sum and the customers got better service - no down side.

[Michael]

 
Privatised industries really do provide better and more efficient services than nationalised ones.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/hosepipe-ban-2018-north-west-uk-explained-united-utilities-water-shortage-rules-a8450621.html
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jun/07/thames-water-to-pay-65m-back-to-customers-as-part-of-penalty-package
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44395763

But back to the closure of banks and post offices, banks of course will complain that they are not used enough and therefore they have to close, lets look at the profits of the two banks lost to Westbury customers.
Barclays Bank https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45962975
Lloyds Bank https://news.sky.com/story/lloyds-profits-climb-24-to-record-53bn-11260031

Now the post office, from a recent FT article on PO privatisation, a quote,  "Of the government funding, £210m will be invested in modernising the network, including extending opening hours and cutting queueing times. The remaining £160m will go towards protecting branches in rural and deprived urban areas."
Oh Yeah, what about Westbury.

It is right to say that changes are on the way, Warminster PO is already located in WH Smiths in The Mall, while in Trowbridge the Crown PO is to close and the business moved to the WH Smith shop in Fore St.
In Westbury however the PO management are still looking for a business to house post office counters, and meanwhile the people of Westbury have to suffer post office managements lethargy.

[John GL]

Yes, I know about all that - but leakage is still a lot lower than it was before 1989, when there were no penalties for under-performance and there was serious under-investment.  Meanwhile customer service has improved beyond recognition.

The Post Office is keen to have a branch in Westbury town centre, but it needs the co-operation of a suitable local business as there no possibility of a stand-alone PO being viable.  Russell was keeping us updated on progress, and it seems that several proposals have fallen through.