Shipston register office faces the axe
SHIPSTON area residents will have to travel 20 miles to reach a register office following the closure of the part-time one in the town - a civic leader has warned.
Coun Richard Cheney, Shipston’s representative on Stratford District Council, spoke after Warwickshire County Council decided to close the part-time office it runs at Clark House, West Street.
Coun Cheney said the closure, on March 31, would force people from Shipston and surrounding villages to travel to Stratford to register births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships.
He said: “It’s very sad news and a loss of a valuable facility.
“I will be lobbying the county council about this.
“There are villages to the south of Shipston where people could have to travel 20 miles to the register office.”
The county council said Warwickshire becoming a single registration district, in December 2008, allowed residents to use any register office in the county.
It said this saw demand increase at Warwickshire’s six main offices and decrease at the four part-time offices.
The council said only three people used Shipston’s office in December but each visit cost £415.
It said the Shipston and Alcester offices closures would relieve pressure on Warwick by allowing for eight additional single or four double marriage notice appointments at Stratford, enable birth and death appointments to be made on Tuesday afternoons for the first time and facilitate up to five additional birth or death registration appointments on Friday afternoons.
Coun Heather Timms, county council customers, workforce and partnerships portfolio holder, said: “The trend has demonstrated that most people prefer to register births or deaths while in main towns at a full-time office, rather than using the part-time offices.
“We are responding to what people need.
“There is a high demand for more cover in Stratford and little to no demand in Shipston and Alcester - the figures speak for themselves.”
