Southwell Town Council consider planning application for bricking up of hole left by Southwell’s Queen Street Post Office ATM

The loss of the cash machine outside Southwell’s Queen Street Post Office after the ATM was raided is part of a move away from cash, which causes problems for rural communities and the poor, says town council charman Mr David Martin.

The council’s planning committee was last night due to consider an application for retrospective planning permission for the bricking up of the hole left by the ATM.

Mr Martin said: “It was a commercial decision taken by the Post Office and I’m told they can’t get insurance for it unless they pay a huge premium.

“It’s not disastrous because there are other cash machines but most of them are inside shops and only available during shop opening hours. The only other cash machine that’s usable at all times is just outside the town at the petrol station,” he said, referring to the BP petrol station on Upton Road.

Mr Martin also said that the diminishing provision of cash machines nationally and moves towards a more cashless society created problems for rural communities and for the poor in particular.

He made his observations after yesterday’s reports in national newspapers and on the BBC of a new study claiming that the UK risks “sleepwalking” into becoming a cashless society, leaving millions of people disadvantaged.

“There is a general move away from cash machines and cash in general, which I find difficult to accept,” said Mr Martin. “I think it’s being driven by the cities, especially in the South East, and the smaller communities can’t handle it.

“I like to know and remember what I’m spending and I know roughly how much cash I’ve got, but that’s not true if you’re dealing with debit and credit cards.

“There are also members of our society who don’t have credit cards, debit cards or bank accounts, and for them cash is essential.”

Maria Digisi, owner of the Alfresco Caffe, Queen Street, said: “It’s very difficult, because we are a cash business. We haven’t even got a bank in Southwell any more and we don’t really want the cost of having a credit card machine.

“The machine at the Post Office was very handy for us because telling customers to go to the machine at the One Stop in King Street is quite far away if somebody just orders a coffee.”