CLOSURE DEADLINE ‘STILL ON TARGET’
Published on 09/04/2008
The opening of High and Low Newton Bypass by highways agency executive Archie Robertson. Save our Post Office protesters on the bypass bridge with MP Tim Farron (centre). JON GRANGER REF: 0424986
THE Post Office has refused to extend its consultation deadline over its proposed axing of 35 branches in Cumbria, and the closures will now begin as early as July.
Cumbria County Council chiefs met Post Office representatives on Monday in a bid to persuade them to extend the period for discussion, but drew a blank.
This was despite mass protests, requests for the Post Office to have second thoughts and a vociferously supported campaign to Stamp Out Closures in the Evening Mail.
The official consultation will not be extended beyond May 27.
Councillor Gary Strong, cabinet member responsible for community development, said: “Communities should have had more time to fight to keep their post offices, but the government has laid out the rules for the national closure programme and there’s no chance of Cumbria being made an exception.
“The Post Office made it clear that there’s no room for emotional pleas in this consultation. The consultation is about the factual evidence the Post Office has built around the proposed closures – so communities should challenge the facts if they are wrong.
“This means looking closely at the Post Office’s rationale behind closing the selected branches and pointing out if things have changed since they did their research.
“If bus routes have changed, new housing developments have been built or there are other local factors that the Post Office has not taken account
of, then it is really important that members of the public respond to the consultation.
“It was also made clear to us that dozens of branches will close or be replaced with outreach services in Cumbria and the Post Office has a national target to close 2,500 branches, because the network is losing £4m a week nationally.
“This means that even if some of the branches targeted in Cumbria were ‘saved’, other branches in Cumbria would most likely be added to the
list. It’s a Catch 22 situation, and all Cumbrians can do is try to ensure that the impact of these closures is minimised across the county.”
At the meeting, it was agreed that county council officers would work with the Post Office to ensure that the remaining branches are viable in the long-term. The county council is also working with branches that are listed for closure to assess the impact on related businesses, such as village shops, to explore whether these can be made sustainable after the closure programme.
But Cllr Strong added: “Even if the Post Office did hand over the keys to the business to a community, it would demand to be paid for any support in training, infrastructure and management.”