A mixed post bag for H&F
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
02/12/2008
Postal services in Hammersmith & Fulham are facing mixed fortunes.
The post office in WH Smith on North End Road is once again under threat of demolition – just a year after developer Fulham Properties Ltd originally applied to knock down the building. The owner of numbers 314-320 has applied to demolish the buildings to make way for two new shops and 25 flats.
The same plan in November last year was met with staunch opposition, especially as the application was submitted just days following Fulham Post Office’s controversial move from Farm Lane. Fulham Properties Ltd later withdrew their submission.
The seven-year deal with WH Smith was part of a national drive to merge 70 post office outlets with the retail chain by the summer of 2008.
Councillor Paul Bristow, cabinet member for residents’ services, said: “We have already seen in H&F that the Post Office’s flagship franchising scheme of putting counters in other shops doesn’t work. At the start of this year Costcutter on the far corner of North End Road closed and the post office went with it. And ten months later, despite our best efforts, there still is no post office for residents or workers in W14.
“The Post Office should concentrate on providing quality services and putting residents first. After the long series of closures we have had in H&F, it would be another crushing blow if this post office disappeared too.”
Three of the six post offices threatened with closure in Hammersmith & Fulham earlier this year were saved from the chop in May. Those rescued were the Starch Green sub-post office branch at King’s Parade in Askew Road; the Kenyon Street branch in Fulham and 146 Shepherds Bush Road.
Public consultation on the application has now ended and the proposals are expected to come before the planning application committee early in the New Year.
Despite another potential closure on the horizon, things are looking decidedly brighter for the future of a Royal Mail enquiry office in Shepherds Bush.
Royal Mail officials met with Cllr Bristow last week on a walkabout of Askew Road Library to discuss using it as a possible venue for an enquiry office. The axe has been hanging over Royal Mail’s delivery depot in Silver Road since June when the company announced it was looking to merge five delivery offices in west London.
But assurances were made that residents would not have to travel out of the borough to collect parcels or letters and the council immediately suggested re-homing the service in a council building.
Royal Mail is carefully considering the lifeline it has been thrown and seems impressed by the building and the council’s proposals to run the office from the library. The lease on the Silver Road depot, which covers W12 and W10 areas of Shepherds Bush and North Kensington, runs out next September and it is expected that Royal Mail will unveil their alternative solution by Christmas.
Premises that can house an enquiry office would be somewhere that has disabled access, suitable storage space, security and parking. Royal Mail is also looking to extend its current hours, opening for longer over the weekend and in the afternoon.
“The obvious solution is Askew Road Library – it is secure, has counters, and is open every day,” said Cllr Bristow.
“It is in a very convenient spot on a busy main road and the visit from the Royal Mail was incredibly positive. We are now just crossing our fingers that they see what we see – the perfect place to house an office and the opportunity to keep vital postal services in the area.”
