PO Closure 'consultation' a sham......

FairyElephant_2

Well, we've just found out that our local Post Office will close.

During their 'consultation period' I and many hundreds of other people wrote & expressed our views, and i know that many of us gave our contact details and offered to meet those making the decisions, to tell and show them firsthand why we felt our PO is so important and should stay open....predictably no-one has contacted any of us, and our feelings and opinions have been completely ignored.

Unless we have a spare hour, many of us will now have to drive to the next nearest PO, adding to fumes, congestion and already overcrowded parking problems (20 to 25 mins walk each way, then wait in already long queues, and as I work fulltime there is no way I can do this).
Those who can't drive (like my elderly father who suffers from alzheimers) and will find the walk difficult or impossible, are now completely stuffed as to where to collect their pensions etc. and pay their bills.

And no, I don't totally blame this Govt - it was the previous Tory one which privatised everything and made 'public services' a thing of the past.....

I never thought I'd say it, but I have just about had it with this country, and this is the last straw for me. As soon as my dear old dad doesn't need me around any more I will seriously be looking at the possiblities of living elsewhere. I'm so sick of fighting for any kind of service at all and being ripped off left, right & centre........

Iamthesmartestmanalive

Its like everyone else who signs petitions for buses, and other services

They may like them as a luxury but the vast majority never or barely use them and make it impossible to keep them open

Someone sending 1 letter a month or year complaining is no good as there 68p doesnt go far

An hour to another post office, I find that very hard to believe

pinkshoes

To be honest, I'm really not sure what post offices do anymore, as there are very few things you can do there, that you can't do online or elsewhere.

I think I've only used my local one once in the last 6 months, and that was only because I needed to tax my car, and had very recently changed address, so couldn't do it online as it would have been sent to the wrong address!

I do see what you're saying, but it's just a sign of changing times, and a service that doesn't have much of a requirement nowadays.

Poppy9

I too think that the days are numbered for all post offices. I rarely use mine as I don't send many parcels or special delivery letters. I can't demand to keep something I don't use. What can I do there besides posting letters?

I do my road tax online or I can go to the local DVLA office. Access to the internet is provided free in all our local community libraries.

As regards benefits & pensions being cashed they will just have to have the money paid into the bank and cash it out. I know many people don't like banks and some have difficulty getting accounts but if PO closes then everyone should be able to access a basic free bank account.

sandiep

I have a post office.

The post office consultation needs to raise a serious issue/objection/reason that wasn't valid or in existence before the Post Office consultation made back at the end of last year.

Therefore all of the normal arguement for example the impact of the closure on the local economy, the impact on eldery people/users etc are all not considered in this process. Even for example a planning application for an extra 200 houses in the village would be unlikely to even be considered.

The post office is now unable to offer over the counter many of the services that it was used for, for example TV license stamps, Power cards etc. The National Saving books are gone, and you can't use the post office savings stamps to pay into these accounts. You can't cash a premium bond cheque at a post office any more. And the pensions are benefits are all but gone.

But very basically. The post office has been "stripped" of these essential services slowly and methodically over the past few years, so that now, when the closures are being implemented, there is much much less for the communities to loose.

It's sad. But true.

However, if you are loosing your post office, there will still be one within a couple of miles, or, you will be getting an outreach service, or mobile post office once a week for example. I lived in a village where the RBS operate a weekly mobile bank van, which turns up for 1/2 an hour a week, and everyone does their banking.

most of the vans will be able to do vehicle licensing, and have foreign currency stocks on hand, as the vans will be operated by the larger local post office. And many may find that these services were not available through their local community post office.

Personally, i think that the post office/goverment missed the boat about 5 years ago. The post office either had to go one way or the other, and I beliece that they should have been brave enough to accept that the post office is not a profit making organisation, and instead make it a really useful local community resource. Use it as the local shop for benefits/tax credits etc etc. and any other govermental service/supply/information.

It's either got to be a subsidised service or a profit making business. I would have chosen a service, but it seems that the powers that be are striving for profits.

Sad, and the end of an era.