The house and shop facility is for sale.
The Parish Council registered the shop and attached premises as a community asset (note: it is not possible to register a Post Office). This means that if the owner puts it on the market they must inform Winchester City Council of their intention to sell. The owners have now done this and we have 6 weeks (until early November) to decide whether we, the community, wish to put in a bid to purchase the property. If we do decide to do this, we then have 6 months to raise the money. During this time the property will stay on the market but cannot be sold to anyone else. At the end of the 6 months the owners could sell to whomsoever they choose.
Should a suitable purchaser come along during the 6 month moratorium we would not be able to withdraw our interest, thus putting at risk a possible sale.
USAG are continuing to press for an outreach Post Office service in the village, and have been looking at other potential sites for a community shop (updates of our progress are on the village website). We conducted a survey and the overwhelming preference was for a shop on the main road. Upham Village Hall have looked very carefully at the possibility of running a shop on their site and reluctantly come to the conclusion that it is not practical. Their reasons will be discussed in detail at the next USAG meeting. Other sites are also being considered.
USAG is meeting at 8.00pm on Monday 5th October at the Tommy Steele pavilion. We need to make a recommendation to the PC as to whether or not the community wish to prepare a bid to purchase the property. If you want to express a view, please either come to the meeting (bring a chair!) or email your comments to Gwyn.
