Better the devil you know than....

The decision by Essex County Council to take over the running of post offices was welcome for two reasons:

1) There are many scattered communities for which the presence of their local post office is vital to their life as individuals and communities.

2) The post offices will be accountable to the local communities in a fuller way than before.

Future decisions can involve local people in the decision, "Do you feel that £x per year is a worthwhile cost to maintain the post office." Other questions are, "What additional services should be offered, what opening hours, etc.?"

Ultimately more and more decisions are being made that have profound affects on our lives by people who are not accountable to us - Brussels, Whitehall, regional bodies and boards, quangos, etc. We know our situations locally better than any outsider, and we care more. If we are prepared to pay the cost, then why should we not make the decision?

Different considerations will arise on larger issues, of course, such as a by-pass or a bridge, where local finance will be too small without the return of some of the massive tax money we pay to central government. There will also be by the difficult N.I.M.B.Y. issues, such as where to site massive new housing projects, gypsy sites, airport expansion, etc.

But for the many small, and relatively less expensive projects, decisions must be made as close as possible to the people affected, and not by some distant faceless bureaucrat. Essex have struck an important blow!