On Wednesday evening Cabinet Members together with the Leader of the Opposition and the Chair of the Scrutiny Committee met with representatives of Post Office Ltd. The Council had wanted a public meeting but could not get Post Office Ltd to agree to this. Barry Coleman, Leader of the Council said “ We would have preferred an open meeting where all stakeholders could express their views but as this was not possible we agreed to this meeting to discuss the Post Office Limited Network Change Plan and to enable Council Members to agree a formal response to the proposals”.
As Chair of the LSP Barry Coleman had written to Post Office Ltd with regard to the proposed closure of post offices within the Borough. He supported the views and comments from other stakeholders regarding the long queues and waiting times at the central branch in Great Yarmouth and felt that if the proposed closures went ahead this would only exacerbate the problem. He was also dismayed that a number of the proposed closures were in the more deprived areas such as Lichfield and Northgate or within rural areas. In both of these areas the post office is a central part of the community.
Council members at the meeting endorsed all the points that letter from the LSP had raised. The knock on effect the closure of smaller branches would have on the central Yarmouth branch was reinforced. This not only impacted residents but also local businesses.
The six proposed closures were individually discussed and the Council believes there is strong justification to retain them. This includes the impact they have on the local community, the deprevation of the area, future regeneration and especially in the case of Lichfield the route to the proposed nearest post office, which includes a river crossing .
Although Cllr Coleman sympathised with Post Office Ltd, knowing that the Network Change Programme was prompted by measures proposed by Central Government, he could not support the proposals.
“I strongly believe that a local post office is part business and part public service” said Barry Coleman “As such it should have an element of public funding in the same way as the police or the education service”.
The Council has until Monday to present its case against the proposed closures in the form of a written submission.
Notes to Editors
For political comment please contact Cllr Barry Coleman, Leader of the Council on 01493 740782 or 07899956612
For information on the submission please contact David Glason Planning Policy Service Unit Manager on 01493 846643 or 07867 974338
The submission will include deprivation statistics, future regeneration plans, information on social housing.
Clare Lovett, External Relations Manager, attended on behalf of Post Offices Ltd