Call to end address row (From Stroud News and Journal)

Call to end address row

ANGRY Chalford residents have urged councillors to draw a line under the curious case that has split two villages that share the same post code.

Representatives of Manor Farm estate in Bussage which has a Chalford post code have asked Chalford Parish Council for reassurances that there are no plans afoot to change the name of their patch.

The shared postcode has led to occasional problems for delivery drivers who have found themselves in the wrong village.

The parish council has been considering ways to resolve the confusion, sparking fears from residents that their Chalford addresses were under threat.

"I've no problem with people down the bottom changing their address to Old Chalford if they want to," said resident Eric Rogers.

"But I'm not prepared to change my address which has been the same since I moved here five years ago."

He and other residents argued a change of address would be costly, inconvenient and above all unfair and unnecessary.

"We have no intention and no power to change your addresses but we still have a problem and we have to find a way to resolve it," said Cllr Mike Doyle-Davidson, council chairman.

The council passed a motion saying: "This parish has no power to change an address. It confirms it has no intention to ask for a change."

Most seemed content to draw a line under the issue though it was pointed out that both the Government and the Post Office had the authority to change a postal address should they wish to do so.