For many years our village had a post office, and a shop, run by a local man, employing local people.
Before the man who owned the shop retired, his neighbours applied for successful planning permission, they aimed to build and open two shops with flats above right next door to the old village post office and stores.
Much was made about the news the village was going to have new shops, and because the planning had been applied for and accepted, the retiring shop owner, having tried very hard to sell his business on as a going concern, found nobody was interested in buying the shop, except the neighbours, who were building new shops, and so a deal was done, and a few months later the shop was closed down.
When it transpired that the shop was not reopening, and the new shops were not being built, the council were put under pressure by local villagers, and eventually, they seeked funding to have the post office installed into the local church.
It was the first of its kind, and sadly even with a purpose built postal desk, it appeared the villagers just could not use a church as their post office, and now it was "just as easy" to post letters when you popped to the nearest shops (by bus or car), the funding used was wasted on a project sadly not thought out enough, and the shop, well the concept of a shop seemed to get lost about the same time.
The council say they asked the local pub, who understandably did not want to lose its small space to shop stock, and so instead of thinking any more about it, the council found some blinkers and shoved cotton wool so far down their ears, nothing was listened to about the shop, ever again.
When I moved back to the village, I decided to put some pressure onto the council, as to why the building has been left empty for 8 years, and what provision there was for a shop, should somebody wish to open one.
Obviously this was the wrong thing to do, even if you had lived most your life here, I felt like I was being outcast for asking what I presumed were simple questions, I was told there was nothing the council could do, and that all local business owners had refused to run a shop from their own businesses (hardly surprising!) and so, even if I wanted to open a shop, there was not one place one could be built, nowhere, and I was advised if I wanted maybe I could run a shop from my front room!
I am not sure how any parish council expects someone to get planning permission to turn their front room into a shop, or why anybody, even with piles of passion would want to lose what space they have to open a shop that the village should have as a given, along with the fact two councillor's live on my road, it was already before it was spoken a stupid suggestion, because there is no way two local councillors want their quiet road with no extra parking spaces to have early morning lorries delivering stock.
Debate was happening on Facebook, one of the councillor's sons who no longer lived in the village, opened a group called "re-open ****** shop now" which I found bizzare with the council'c stance on the matter and villagers flocked aboard, with my input and suggestions I was soon made a moderator for the page, and my name flashed up as a moderator on the page - before long, the village gossips were telling me, all about me!
I popped to the shack, in the next village, but within walking distance, the fisherman's shack, where people paid to fish at the local lake, had always provided snacks and breakfasts for the fisherman, and after the shop closed villagers would walk to the next village on a sunny morning and have a breakfast by the lake, and try to find other locals to talk to, the shop closing left a massive gap, a place locals would meet and talk,and so the owners began to stock bread, milk and newspapers, good, but sadly still not enough for the villagers to survive without leaving the village.
I turned up, and before long I decided to ask if they had ever considered extending the shop. They hadn't, but soon were telling me about "this woman wants the old village shop re-opening, and she doesn't even live in the village, she doesn't even know why the shop closed down" I laughed and said, actually the lady you are referring to is me, and I had lived in this village for most of my life, and I knew exactly why the shop was no longer there. I explained why i felt as I did, quoting all sorts, and including the carbon footprint the village is producing, she listened.
Soon a questionnaire came through my door, asking what I thought of a village shop, and soon everybody was talking about the possibility the shop was to be re-opened, nobody knew who made the questionnaire, but everybody I spoke to was actually excited at the prospect my neighbours, nearing retirement spoke to me, and said how they had considered leaving the village as they wanted a local shop to rely on in retirement, but now a new shop was opening, they were happy to stay.
I decided to ask the people at the shack if it was them, and they said it was, and how they had surveyed 6 local villages, and all but 3 people replied, and from all the hundreds that did, just two people opposed a village shop.
It seemed therefore a shop was to be opened, well the shack was to be extended, and so everybody, me included, sat back, breathed a big sigh or relief and waited, and waited and waited.
The woman that ran the shack, was now working alongside the council on the local village plan, a questionnaire to find the needs for the village, something I had offered to sit on and had been provisionally accepted to take a roll, but it was already happening, and I stupidly presumed this meant things would move quicker, when the village plan came through my door, there was no mention of a shop at all.
Dismayed I realised somehow the shack extension had been either the woman's pipe-dream or she had just wanted to keep her hands on the only space that may have potential, but soon she gave up the shack on the quiet, and took on a local charity and other council duties.
Soon planning permission was entered to demolish the shop and build houses, and despite protest from the locals who were allowed to comment, and attendance at meetings held by the borough councils, the permission was granted, a monopoly had taken place, and nobody cared to notice.
This week the shop, is being pulled down, brick by brick, and the family, who will soon have two new houses in the place where three shops should sit, smile broadly and laugh, genuinely happy they have been able to realise their dream of owning a chunk of the village, at the cost of the other people they call neighbours.
Whilst the village shop was open, this family tormented the shop owner, harassed customers who parked near their driveway and would not speak to anybody else that lived here, since the shop has closed, it transpires they have made a good effort at scaring an elderly lady who's house sits next door to the shop, they have made noises late at night and damaged her property, hoping she would move out, but she is too old and frail for that, and also had the knowledge to tell her family about the issues, knowing exactly who was behind her troubles.
But this family are untouchable, and nobody in authority cares.
They say the environment is needing our help, and 6 villages full of people, have to use transport to get food, and if they do not have transport, with the local bus service now removed, they can walk, anything from 3 to 12 miles to the closest shop. I often see a man in a wheelchair loaded with shopping, trying to wheel himself up small country lanes that have no footpaths, but its of no concern to our council. Its not their problem.
So who's problem is it?
Mine I suppose.
