AT A time when hundreds of villages in the area have become void of facilities, the efforts of Kath and Peter Stockdale to retain a post office in Hunton are applaudable.

Since the turn of the century, 6,750 post offices have shut down nationwide and along with them many much-loved village stores, not simply for the want of customers.

Such properties are often more valuable as residences and economic gain has triumphed over community need.

The need is plain to see in Hunton, with the local publican stating he views the store’s services as vital, but it is not just the services that would be lost.

In many villages where churches, halls and schools have disappeared, the shop remains a place where residents meet, catch up and share their concerns.

This comes at a time when cash-strapped health and council services, not to mention voluntary organisations, pour significant resources into battling the effects of isolation.

Replacement services in a mobile van are not like for like.

It’s easy to chant the mantra ‘use it or lose it’, but when shoppers have the choice of simply clicking on a keyboard to get goods delivered, independent stores that have to charge more for their more limited range of goods can seem a tough sell.

Big efforts for revitalisation

IT’S heartening to see an apparently united front behind efforts to revitalise the heart of North Yorkshire’s county town.

With the backing of Sir Gary Verity and some of the biggest retailers in the area, the proposals appear to be advancing at a rapid rate. The confident words of the council’s leader, Mark Robson, following a chain of blows to the town a few year ago that it would bounce back, appear to be bearing fruit.