Share your views - Post Office closures
Cost cutting Post Office
Update 11/06/07
Yet another post office branch is to close – less than a year after the Hammersmith Broadway branch was shut down. The branch in Farm Lane, Fulham, is to transfer to a WH Smith’s store in North End Road as part of a controversial national drive to merge 70 post office outlets with the retail chain by next summer. Post Office Ltd is due to announce a six-week consultation shortly – but on the type of service at the chain store not on whether the move should happen. H&F Council is holding a public meeting to discuss the closure plan at 7.00pm on Monday 25 June at Fulham Library exhibition hall, 598 Fulham Road.
If you want to make a representation to the Post Office you can download a petition or write to Phillippa Wright, National Consultation Manager, Post Office Ltd, c/o - National Consultation Team, PO Box 2060, Watford WD18 8ZD Download a pdf of the Save Farm Lane Post Office petition
Update 07/03/07
After the furore that followed the decision by the Post Office to close the Hammersmith Broadway branch, news that the branch in St Ann’s Road will be shut and operations crammed into a Costcutter store up the road, comes as little surprise to ever more frustrated customers. The irony of it moving into a Costcutter store is not lost on local people.
While many will see the move as compromising yet another important local service, the Post Office have tried to put a sheen on the decision, suggesting in a letter to the Chief Executive of Hammersmith & Fulham Council that the move will, “enable us to offer an enhanced service to the local community”. What rubbish.
In the letter the Post Office cite a “brand new serving counter, with low level facilities for those in wheelchairs”, “an induction hearing loop” and “space for wheelchair access”. However, when the council phoned the current branch and asked whether these facilities were currently available we were informed “yes” to all three.
It would appear that yet again, the only people who will find it convenient to move the Post Office into a convenience store are the Post Office themselves. Costcutters indeed.
Update 21/09/06
Last post for Hammersmith Broadway
More than 1,000 residents say “Save Our Post Office”
Controversial plans to shut Hammersmith Broadway Post Office and relocate it into a stationer’s shop a third of a mile away may be reversed after more than 1,000 local residents signed a petition urging mail bosses to think again.
Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, Hammersmith & Fulham Council leader, confronted shocked Post Office officials with the impressive list at a showdown in Hammersmith town hall. Councillors also voted on a motion ‘condemning the poor democratic consultation’ and vowing to campaign vigorously against the ‘relentless strategy of closing branches in the borough’.
The council hosted a tempestuous emergency meeting, before full council on September 20, where residents vented their frustrations and challenged Post Office officials face-to-face.
The meeting was prompted by a ‘sham’ consultation that was roundly criticised for being a rubber stamping exercise, which ignored the views of local residents. The well attended meeting culminated with the leader of the council presenting the petition to Byron Roberts from Post Office Ltd.
"The massive response to this petition combined with an official council motion shows how important it is that we keep a 10 counter Post Office in the Hammersmith Broadway centre. The current location is ideal and I sincerely hope that Post Office bosses will now look at the hundreds of names and messages from the people of Hammersmith & Fulham, examine their consciences and reverse their closure plans."
Hammersmith residents had looked set for longer post office queues as Hammersmith Broadway Post Office struggled for survival. But the transfer of vital services from the embattled branch to a franchise inside WH Smith was slammed by outraged residents, councillors and local MPs.
Cllr Greenhalgh continues, “It makes no sense to move a well positioned popular post office out of the second busiest transport interchanges in London to a secluded off street location. Tucking a few counters away inside WH Smith will annoy and inconvenience everyone, especially older residents and wheelchair users who will have a long trek up the high street.
“The tube and bus station complex combines rare wheelchair access, thanks to its excellent lifts and escalators, with excellent transport links. To make people traipse across the busy gyratory and up King Street will be daunting to many people with mobility problems. Just because there are no steps into WH Smith doesn’t mean it’s accessible.
“Residents, councillors and local MPs have all let their views be known, if the closure isn’t stopped queues will be longer, jobs will be lost and access will be worse. The ball is now in the Post Office’s court. It’s time for them to wake up, reverse this decision, and start delivering for the borough’s residents.”
Update 07/09/06
Council calls emergency meeting to discuss Post Office closure
Hammersmith & Fulham Council is taking a stand against the closure of Hammersmith Broadway Post Office after, it says, the views of residents were ignored in a public consultation.
The council will host an emergency meeting, before full council on September 20, so that residents can air their views once and for all. A petition has also been started and councillors will vote on a resolution later in the evening.
The council’s move was prompted after the Post Office ploughed on with their original plan to scrap vital local services despite stiff opposition from outraged residents and disability groups.
Following a brief public consultation, which has been criticised for not being wide enough, the Post Office announced that 10 counter positions at the Hammersmith Broadway Centre would be downsized to five and incorporated into the WH Smith store in King Street. The relocation means lay-offs as well as longer queues for Hammersmith & Fulham residents.
Council leader, Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, said, "The consultation was a sham and this public meeting will allow the true feelings of local residents to be heard. The Post Office is trying to hold residents to ransom by saying that the relocation of services is necessary to halt more closures. This is rich considering we’ve have three branches shut in the last couple of years.”
Representatives from the Post Office and Postwatch, the body set up to represent the interests of post office customers, have been invited to the meeting which is open to everyone.
Cllr Greenhalgh concludes, “The Post Office rubber stamped their original plan with no more than a nod and a wink to the views of residents. This meeting will expose the consultation for the sham it was.”
The meeting starts at 5.30pm in Hammersmith town hall on Wednesday 20 September.
Update 17/08/06
The Post Office has announced that controversial plans to shut Hammersmith Broadway Post Office and relocate it into a stationer’s shop a third of a mile away are going ahead despite protests from residents. The transfer of vital services from the busy branch to a franchise inside WH Smith in King’s Mall has been slammed by residents, councillors and the local MP.
Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, Hammersmith & Fulham Council leader, said, "This is another kick in the teeth for Post Office customers in the borough who have had to endure a relentless tide of closures over recent years. We are calling on the Post Office to reconsider this short sighted move immediately.”
Following a brief consultation, which was criticised for not being wide enough, the Post Office went ahead with its original plan anyway.
Post Office Director Byron Roberts said, “We are delighted to confirm that our Post Office branch will move to the WHSmith store on 19 October 2006. This is a great solution for customers.”
Update 31/07/06
Controversial plans to shut Hammersmith Broadway Post Office and relocate it into a stationer’s shop a third of a mile away look set to go ahead unless more local residents make their views clear to the Post Office.
Email : consultation@royalmail.com
Hammersmith residents look set for longer post office queues as another round of closures strikes the borough. The transfer of vital services from the busy branch to a franchise inside WH Smith in King’s Mall has been slammed by residents, councillors and the local MP.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council and the local MP have been jointly spearheading a campaign to save the popular branch after the Post Office announced a ‘consultation’ on the issue. Hammersmith & Fulham MP Greg Hands summoned Post Office managers to Parliament this week to outline concerns.
Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, Hammersmith & Fulham Council leader, said, “It makes no sense to move a well positioned popular post office out of the second busiest transport interchanges in London to a secluded off street location. Tucking a few counters away inside WH Smith will annoy and inconvenience everyone, especially older residents and wheelchair users who will have a long trek up the high street.”
This latest blow to local post offices comes hot on the heels of branch closures at the Crown Post Office on North End Road and smaller outlets on Blythe Road and Brackenbury Road.
Kamran Mallick, from Hammersmith & Fulham Action on Disability (HAFAD), said, “We’re very concerned about the impact this will have on disabled people and will be making our views known to the Post Office although they didn’t bother to tell us about the consultation. The alternative site they are proposing is not suitable. In bad weather, when the roads are treacherous, visually impaired people and wheelchairs users will struggle to get to the new site.”
Cllr Greenhalgh concludes, “The current location is one of the best in London as it’s located within the tube and bus station complex combined with rare wheelchair access thanks to its excellent lifts and escalators. To make people traipse across the busy gyratory and up King Street will be daunting to many people with mobility problems. Just because there are no steps into WH Smith doesn’t mean it’s accessible.”
If the plan goes ahead employees in the new branch will no longer be directly employed by the Post Office and will instead be the responsibility of WH Smith. At the same time, some of the existing staff in Hammersmith Broadway will be made redundant.
Hammersmith resident and post office regular Emily Paschol says, “It’s terrible news, it’s so handy where it is right near the buses and trains. They shouldn’t move it away from the transport links. I’ve just left the queue as it was so long. They should be opening more post offices, not shutting them down.”
Another passer by, who wanted to stay anonymous, said, “It’s all about money, not convenience. They don’t give two hoots about normal people, they’re just thinking about the profits.”
Last year residents fought to stop Blythe Road Post Office being moved to Costcutter mini-mart. More than 1,400 people signed a petition, but they failed to stop the axe falling on the last remaining post office in the postal district of W14.
The consultation on the future of the service ends on August 10. Residents who would like to make their views known to the Post Office should email consultation@royalmail.com.
