Post Office update (30 July 2008)
On 24 June Post
Office Ltd published a review of the number of post offices in
Birmingham, as part of a national programme called Network Change.
This review has proposed a number of post offices for closure –
including Middlemore Road in Northfield and The Green in Kings
Norton.
Today I met with Post Office Ltd and Postwatch - the consumer body for postal services - to discuss their proposals to close the post offices on Middlemore Road in Northfield and at The Green in Kings Norton.
Over the last two months I have been working with the sub postmasters at these post offices, alongside residents, local traders, Northfield Councillors and fellow local Labour MP Lynne Jones to look at how best to respond to these proposals. Together we have put together two submission documents which call on Post Office Ltd to reconsider its proposals to close these post offices.
These submissions were presented to Post Office Ltd at today's meeting and are now available online:
Both of the submissions highlight problems with accessibility to alternative post office branches. At the meeting Post Office Ltd were shown a DVD which graphically highlights the difficulties of a local resident in a wheelchair in trying to get from Middlemore Road to the suggested alternative post office. The submissions make the point that it will also be difficult for customers of The Green Post Office to get to other post office branches.
The submissions explain that closing these post offices could be counter productive to Post Office Ltd and local communities from a commercial point of view. The importance of looking at population density and not just distance is also raised along with the possibility of exacerbating queuing problems at alternative post offices.
This is a very important issue for local people. And the last thing anyone wants is for politicians to be using an issue like this to score party points. That is why, over the last couple of months, Lynne Jones and I have been working closely with the sub postmasters, local community representatives and the Chair of the Council’s Northfield Constituency Committee to look at how to best respond to Post Office Ltd’s proposals.
We all know that Post Office Ltd has got to make some hard decisions – but even under their own criteria the proposals for these two post offices don’t stack up. Hopefully the cases we have put to them today show that they have got some serious thinking to do.
The public consultation on Post Office Ltd's Network Change Programme Area Plan Proposal for Birmingham, Coventry and Warwickshire is open until 4 August so you still have a week left if you would like to make your views known to Post Office Ltd. You can write to them at:
National Consultation Team
Post Office Ltd
FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM
Copies of the proposals are available on the Post Office’s website: www.postoffice.co.uk/networkchange.
THE POST OFFICE NETWORK IN THE NORTHFIELD AREA - 24 June 2008
Click here to see the article I wrote when Post Office Ltd's proposals for post offices in Birmingham were published.
