Places Stories

Tell us what you think about these closures - how will they affect your local community

LESLIE PREECE
AS AN X POST OFFICE MANAGER, I THINK IT IS A TRAGEDY THAT THE POST OFFICE NETWORK HAS BEEN DECIMATED. IT IS ALL DOWN TO THE GOVERNMENT HAVING TAKING AWAY ALL THE CORE SERVICES.IE. PENSIONS PAID BY PENSION BOOKS BECAUSE OF COURSE THE BANKS CAN DO THE SERVICE A LOT CHEAPER. MOTOR VEHICLE LICENCES, TV LICENCES. POSTAGE. YOU CAN NOW DOWLOAD STAMPS ON THE INTERNET. ETC. ETC.

Stacy
As a former sub post mistress myself, I can only say it is not very forward thinking of our government at all. The local communities need these post offices and this is dreadful!

David King
Just remember - the Royal Mail is 100% UK government owned, i.e. by us all. Many people seem to think that it has been sold off. Not true! It is this government which just stands by and allows this vandalism. Sadly by the time they are kicked out it will be too late, because these vital hubs of our society will have gone. Write to your MPs.

James
Rather pathetic really. no postbox, no post office, no broadband, no community. how are people in the countryside expected not to use their cars. I'm prepared to stop using the post office/royal mail altogether and start using private businesses.

Dave
How on earth can anyone from the Post office say people will get a better service. All these closures have done is cause inconvenience for the public. The Government should either privatise it or re nationalise it.

carol
my local post office closed in march 2008, since then the butchers has closed the florist has moved further down the road the newsagents has closed what a mess no community all gone very very sad

Emily
This government is slowly taking the heart out of our rural villages, most villages have a majority of elderly people living there, this means that they have to (if they are able) to travel by bus to the nearest postoffice,( thats if there is a bus service.) This is madness, and proves that the ones that decide these things have no idea of how much people in the country villages rely on these shops. There should be more of them not less.!!!!!

David Walter
Proposed closure of Lower Eggleton Post Office HR8 2TZ in Newtown Cross Garage and Bishop’s Frome Post Office, whose customers are to go to Burley Gate Post Office or use the two proposed Outreach Services.PLEASE KEEP LOWER EGGLETON OPEN AND IF NECESSARY CLOSE BURLEY GATE, becauseAt Burley Gate there is:No off road parkingNo disabled access: three steps and a narrow door. Little room inside for extra customers.In stark comparison the Lower Eggleton Post Office is in a Supermarket also selling hot drinks, hot food, Lottery tickets and has a petrol station, with:Parking for thirty cars off-road.Disabled access through the wide automatic door, no steps.Plenty of room for extra customers from Burley Gate and Bishops Frome.If this goes ahead it's cruel - gulag archieggleton!

Philip Morris AICB (Comp)
The whole concept behind the Post Office branch closures is to cut losses. The reality is that 3% of ALL Post Offices are directly owned by the Post Office Ltd, the remaining 97% of all Post Office Branches are owned by Sub-Postmasters or mistresses. Guess which group accounts for the biggest losses? If you guessed that the 3% of the Post Offices which are directly owned and managed by the Post Office accounts for 70% of a £99 million loss then you guessed right. This is openly available knowledge which, as a Business Consultant, I came across whilst independently researching this issue. Funny how no one seems to mention that the branches being closed only account for 20% of the overall loss - whilst branches directly managed by the Post Office make up a tiny fraction of the total number of Post Offices but account for the lion's share of the losses. What does this say about the management of the Post Office Ltd and for the reasons behind the closure? Madness! What kind of folly is it to propose a business plan in which you place your retail outlet in someone else's store and pay rent! Surely, the smart business man will look at getting someone else to open a kiosk in THEIR store and gain the rent as a form of income!

Joyce Brand
Wigmore has just opened a commmunity shop with the energy and effort of village people, the youth project has set up cafe again by voluntary effort, but PO PLC with the backing of central government demonstrates nil commitment to rural communities and destroys an essential part of a thriving village that could be a long way to self sufficiency if the post office services were not hacked out.

Blair Rennie
I thought the government was supposed to represent the interests of the people in a democracy..how do these closures represent the small communities affected by these closures..is this democracy or are we becoming a big brother state..mind you i suppose the people doing the closing, don't use the post office anyway..so of course it wont affect them..mind you if they hadn't have had a fifteen thousand pound pay rise each..how many post offices would that have kept open..also as we pay so much in tax in this country..were does it all go????..probably on fruitless wars that we shouldn't be involved in

James Wren
Just another example of the UK becoming a corporate and profit greedy island. What on earth has happened to the country?. Pathetic. Not only are people not put first but the culture is dumbed down to such a level that there is not a lot left. I live in Vienna now, just can't stand to see the UK drifting any further..what a mess.

Brian Rollings
I don't understand the thinking in using a pub in Bishops Frome to host the proposed "outreach" service.We have an excellent Village Hall with all facilities and good parking (especially for Disabled people) and no steps on entry.The pub suggested for use has limited parking, a long walk to the entrance alongside a busy main road with no pavement, and steps up to the entrance.Just what are the P.O authorities thinking of. There is NO CONTEST as to which would be the best venue.I would prefer to retain the P.O facilities in the village, but if it has to go then the Village Hall is the only alternative on a part time or FULL TIME basis.

Lesley Hayward
I cannot stress enough the importance of rural post-offices. One of the most irritating things I have noticed [especially for those with sticks and limited standing still power, is that the main postoffices now ALWAYS have long queues - nowhere to sit, of course. Rural ones are friendlier, more efficient, quicker and often have shops attached - saving on poluution/fuel and time. Use some common sense!

Mimi
How in heavens name is this going to affect the disabled, or those without transport. For those with cars it means extra road journeys and extra petrol. AND closure is grossly unfair on those those run the local post offices.

Dr Gerry Kennedy
Edwyn Ralph has no street lighting, no bus service, no shop, only a post office two mornings a week and yet these idiots want to close it.We DO have residents who use this post office. How utterly mean minded to close it, force more traffic to Bromyard and even more overwhelm the usually busy office there. We can have prescriptions dispensed in Bromyard because we are so far from the town yet nameless fools close a vital service to us - we plainly do not matter.

Simon of Kempsey
The role of these Post Offices goes beyond the profit & loss sheet, but the decisions are being made by people who assume everyone is content to use internet reality. Focal points of local life are being eroded, and when they are all gone we'll be left with a debate about what it used to be like to be British.

A Boswell
It is a joke - but before you blame THIS government, remember The Post Office is a "company" these days. Who was it who sold it off to be a profit making enterprise?

Margaret
Would the proposed weekly mobile service be able to carry all the bulky mail and parcels which would inevitably accumulate over the period of a week - I imagine not. This would result in a much delayed service and it is bad enough now.

Margaret
Local P.O's give essential services to those who are unable to travel or carry heavy parcels. Closure would create more pollution because cars would have to be used to travel to other P.O's.E-Bay gave a lifeline to P.O's and quite often one has to first take an large item to their P.O. to have it assessed for postal charges before it can be advertised. Then when/if it is sold, it has to be taken again to be sent off.Closure of Rushwick P.O. would be a disaster for residents who are unable to undertake a journey to St. Johns for such a purpose.Also for disabled or sick people who cannot walk from the inconvenient carparks in St. Johns, carrying heavy items, or stand in the long queues which will inevitably be the case.Why is this Government so 'hellbent' on trying to ruin all aspects of our countryside and it's facilities? We haven't all got their high salaries and facilities for paying for what we want on a whim.

The Dunaways
What a joke! A real slap in the face for those trying to be part of a community. If we all hop in the car to get to our nearest PO this will add to traffic congestion everywhere. Perhaps that is what the government would prefer??

Michael W.Davies
The Govt.seems determined to ruin local communities in as many ways as they can. The Post Office should never have been privatised -we are now paying the price for this shortsighted "policy".Peoplecome before "Business Plans"

Linda Arnold
Whatever happened to the concept of service? The Post Office isn't there to provide people with jobs.

J vaughan
The rural communities are again being treated as second class citizens.A mobile service once a week is of no use to any one,and what about the carbon footprint that this goverment is always on about

M.Berry
Then they show those awful adverts, "use your local Post Office and services we offer" WHAT POST OFFICES, THERE CLOSED!!

jackie
it seems that another british institution is being sold off or closed down what will be next slowly this goverment is destroying everything that makes us what we are or were the british isles

Helen
I run an internet based company posting out on average 120 packets per week. The local post office I use is one set to have a weekly service. I have wonderful service, am able to support the shop and meet many local people. Such the hub of the village. It is small companies like mine, the elderly community and many other folk that these closures will effect. Only today I met two eldrly ladies in tears.Something needs to be done to keep these communities together.

Angus
The demand is there - increase resources, don't reduce the commitment!

H Ball
I and other local businesses in a rural setting will now have a half hour journey to a Post Office that can provide adequate service for our needs. The part closure of the branch concerned runs contrary to the increasing numbers and developing demands of local businesses, especially those involved in internet sales. In my case my productive working day will be reduced by circa two hours if I am to maintain the levels of customer service that I currently provide purely because of the timing and time spent travelling travel to a post office.

anthony
Hi, i am a disabled person and I use northwick rd post offices, as it is just down the road. How am I going to get to the main post office in town centre? It is alright for you lot at the top, you got your big flashy cars to get from A to B. You have not taken us people who got to struggle to and from the shops. I think what you should do is get off your big fat bottems and come out to the big world big world of reality, and see how the ether side lives and see how we got to do things. By shutting this post office you will ruin the community and the old folks won't be able get their pensions. Let's see you do it. You try to walk one mile to get your pension at 75 years old.

Duncan ( WR3 )
Bilford Rd ??? So from 2 years ago when I could walk to 2 PO's ( Astwood Rd + Bilford ) I know have to try to aprk in town and get to Foregate ??? Stupid , just stupid

Russ Bevan
You don't grow a business by closing the outlets.Why don't they change the model to "Franchises" instead of employing "post masters" ?

Roger Sinden
Regarding the reduced service proposed for Cradley, this is completely unacceptable. Many local residents do not have their own transport and a once a week service is laughable. Perhaps if the Government had not withdrawn so many services from the Post Offices then we would not be in this situation.

cjw
I would not hold your breath about the review period, with HMRC reviews no notice was taken of constructive comment. Yet another disaster for local economys`

Lizzie
The centre of Woodrow is already dying. This is just the final straw.

Robert Wilson
The whole closure programme is shameful.It is like saying railways shouldn't run trains,or working in Asda would be great,if there weren't any customers! The Post Office is a public service;it isn't there just to make a profit.It is an indivisable part of a whole service (Post Office,Royal Mail & Parcel Force). If they hadn't been artificially separated,they could be run as a single entity with a third of the overheads and at a profit.How,pray, do they propose we post parcels without a Post Office? If this moronic Government didn't persist in removing dozens of functions and services from Post Offices, we wouldn't be in this situation,but it also comes down to incompetent management, who don't appear to want a business to run.No doubt at the end of all this they will take massive payouts to go and ruin another business and then another....

Ed Yarnold
Trying to discourage people from using their cars through extortionately high taxes, and then reducing government costs by closing post offices close to people that will consequently need to use their cars (and hence pay more tax) to post a letter or get some stamps? It could only be the British Government.

Guy
I can't believe one of those listed is the 200 Bilford Road branch. It is always busy in there. Frankly this listing on it own negates the so called "profitable" post offices only concept. Looks like the morons are out to cause maximum disuption in the local communities...

smith e
the government are ruining everything!

Mrs Angela Rickerby
A tragic disaster for local communities. Why does this Government do nothing? It will mean more traffic on the roads, and financial difficulties for those already on limited incomes.Profitable PO's should be supporting the lesser used stores in rural areas.