Save our Post Offices!

Last month the Government announced plans to close Hadley Wood post office along with 5 other branches in Enfield and another 168 post offices in London as part of a cull of 2500 post offices. The Government want to close 2500 post office nationwide and therefore to save the Post Office £45 million. It is a brutal cost saving exercise with little regard being given for the significant role a post office plays in a local community.

I appreciate that our local post office in Crescent West is a small branch which is only open 14 hours per week and attracts approximately 200 customers per week. I have met with Post office managers and they make the point that you “use it or lose it”. I would be interested to hear from those who don’t use the post office to find out what changes to services offered or times available would make them use the branch. My concern is that the Government is simply managing the demise of the local post office and has not done enough to encourage more business into the branch office. I appreciate that the advance of banks providing services previously reserved to post offices, such as pensions and benefits, has had a significant impact upon the level of customers using post offices. However, more could be done to use the central place post offices hold in our community. For example, last month I made representations to the Leader of Enfield Council to follow the lead in Essex for the Council to link some of their services to a post office.
I do not want to see Hadley Wood lose its post office by default or indifference. I am fighting with the GLA Candidate Cllr Matthew Laban to keep the branch open but this can only happen if Hadley Wood residents join us in taking up the fight. We need to establish that there is a potential increased customer base and that the existing customers are significantly disadvantaged by having to access an alternative branch. If Hadley Wood branch closes the only alternatives are the crown post office on Barnet High Street or the branch on Cockfosters Parade.
I am particularly concerned about the impact upon the elderly and vulnerable that relies upon their branch to pay bills and receive their pension. I would be pleased to hear from existing customers about details of the impact of closure so that I can make the case to Post Office managers and in Parliament to Ministers.

Please respond by the end of March by writing to National Consultation Team, Post Office Ltd, FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM, or by emailing consultation@postoffice.co.uk. It would also be very useful if you could provide Postwatch with a copy of your response, either via email to info@postwatch.co.uk or by post to Postwatch Greater London, FREEPOST NAT 11952, London, SW1W 0BR.

Please set out in as much detail as possible the value of the Post Office and the impact of closure. Post Office are interested to hear about local factors that are relevant such as the ease of access to alternative post offices.

I believe that the local post office is an important part of our community and it would be a very retrograde step to lose it. I will be fighting hard to keep the post office open and hope you will join me in supporting my campaign.