Double whammy

Life in the English countryside is not all it seems. A government adviser is warning more needs to be done to help rural communities.

Built on a Somerset hillside, Kingsdon looks like a typical village. It has a picturesque pub and an historic church.

At the heart of the community are a post office and a small primary school.

But both of those are threatened with closure.

"The lifeblood in my opinion is being sucked out of the village and for what?" asks parish councillor Patrick Leahy.

Post office closure

The local shop can be pretty quiet. Many who used to come for groceries or to use the post office counter now go elsewhere.

But the news that it would be among the dozens of post offices being closed around the West was a shock.

"My customers in particular are the ones who are going to be paying the cost," says manager Angie Saunders.

"We have people that come here that physically cannot get out of the village."

If the post office shuts, the shop may not survive.

Ageing population

Patrick Leahy is determined to fight. "It's going to be a tremendous hardship, particularly as the village is actually becoming older."

Locals are all too aware of the demographic trend: few young people stay in the village.

It is not helped by soaring property prices.

The South West has seen some of the fastest increases in the country.

There is little social housing: a few council homes remain, others have been sold off.

Merge or shut

Now Kingsdon fears it may become older still.

The local primary is among five schools which Somerset County Council say must merge or close.

It has only 33 pupils - but they are helping campaign for the survival of both school and shop.

"Will you sign my petition?" asks 10-year-old Sarah Carnall, as she races round the playground at the end of the school day.

"As a community, we don't want to lose any of these things because obviously this is a very important part of our village," says her mother Gillian.

A plea to the politicians

"We do not know what is going on and why we are being attacked in this way"
Patrick Leahy

So a delegation from Kingsdon went to Taunton to lobby a vital meeting of county councillors.

Patrick Leahy made a passionate plea for his village, outlining how they are facing a double whammy.

"We do not know what is going on and why we are being attacked in this way."

No reprieve was given - but there will be a consultation to see if the school can survive.

And councillors hope to support endangered post offices by getting them to do more council business.

But the trends that trouble Kingsdon - and thousands of other villages - will take much more to reverse.

What should be done? The government's Rural Advocate will be interviewed live on the Politics Show West.

Watch the Politics Show on TV with Jon Sopel and David Garmston on BBC One, 12:00 GMT, Sunday 09 March 2008 ...or click the latest programme button at the top of this page.

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