Closure of post office has hit vulnerable residents

5:10pm Wednesday 5th November 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

I ATTENDED the national Post Offices conference in Stansted, where over 100 council delegates objected to the flawed way that 2,5000 local post offices had been closed nationally in the narrow vision of the One Size All Government model.

The raft of post office closures took place, despite some 168,000 protests.

These included 27,000 residents who displayed their outrage in Waltham Forest and complained bitterly about the social and community loss of five post offices in wards earmarked for regeneration.

Essex County Council have supported a programme to re-open 12 local post offices and will consider grants for new branches.

The re-opening of the post office in Station Way, Buckhurst Hill, took place in September with the same sub-post master.

There are now 100 customers using the post office daily again.

The new carrot to re-open post offices, is to now include new income streams from council–run local services, such as a One Stop Information Point, school uniform vouchers, parking fines or allowing space for residents’ views on Budget, Street Crime or Housing on the new Touchscreen Questionnaire.

Over 200 councils have contacted Essex County Council for advice and interest has come from as far a field as the USA and Japan.

This Government has failed to listen to post office users, who have told them repeatedly that their public consultation was flawed.

The closing of the local post office has now had a deep social impact on our most vulnerable residents and the small business community during a financial crisis.

Cllr Patrick Smith, Higham Hill ward.