Council arranges public meeting to challenge Post Office closures

by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
26/02/2008

The council is set to host a public meeting to allow residents to protest about the latest round of Post Office closures to hit the borough.

Hammersmith & Fulham Council is leading the charge against the closure of branches locally. The council is seeking to up the ante on under pressure bosses at Royal Mail who are scheming to close 169 post offices across London.

Cllr Paul Bristow, Hammersmith & Fulham Council Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services, says, “Geographically we are one of the smallest boroughs in Britain and yet Post Office bosses in their ivory tower are proposing a huge number of closures in a very small area. Enough is enough.”

The six doomed branches at 780 Fulham Road, 58 Kenyon Street, 146 Shepherds Bush Road, 68 Askew Road, 88 Goldhawk Road and 7 Kings Parade, Askew Road are part of a London-wide national closure programme which will see more than 2,500 branches closed across Britain.

The capital has already lost more than 300 post offices in four years, with numbers slashed from 1,175 to just 849. The Post Office launched a consultation on the closures last week saying more branches must go to stem losses of £3million a week.

Cllr Bristow added, “The Post Office is slashing their network for financial gain without thinking of their customers. This is why we have organised a public meeting and petition to galvanise support against this act of vandalism.”

The cutbacks come despite new figures showing London has just one branch for every 8,460 people – compared to the national average of one branch for 3,860. There is also anger at the way the closures are being forced through. Royal Mail wants to shut down the branches soon after the consultation finishes in April.

All residents affected by the Post Office closure are invited to the council’s Post Office closure protest meeting at 7pm in Hammersmith Town Hall on Wednesday 19 March. If you are interested in attending the meeting please call Nikki Hambry on 020 8753 1579 or email Nikki.Hambry@lbhf.gov.uk. You can also have your say by clicking on http://www.lbhf.gov.uk/postofficeclosures.

The council has also organised a petition which, in addition to being available to sign at your local library, will also be at the public meeting.

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