Tom Biggins, Conservative Spokesman for Telford, invites all local residents to attend a Public Meeting to help put a stop to the proposed closure of Randlay Post Office.
The meeting – to be held at the Randlay Centre, on Monday, 7th April 2008, at 7.00pm – forms part of a major ‘Keep our Post Office Open’ campaign which has already collected hundreds of petition signatures in support of keeping Randlay Post Office open since its closure was announced on Tuesday.
Officers of the Post Office have indicated that they will be present at the meeting. It will also be attended by local community and parish representatives who will join in the discussions. All residents are encouraged to come along and let their views be known.
Tom Biggins said: “Since our protest began at Randlay on Tuesday, I have been made fully aware of the strong sense of outrage felt by locals towards this unnecessary closure. From speaking to residents, as well from the many emails, letters and telephone calls that I have received over the last 48 hours, it is easy to see that people are rightly angered by the news and are most concerned about the great inconvenience and extra cost that this proposal would cause them.
“Has any thought been given by the Post Office where people, particularly the elderly, are supposed to travel to in the future,” Tom asks. “The reality is that everyone at Randlay would have to make a trip to either Telford Town centre or Brookside, incurring the extra inconvenience and costs of bus or car travel.
Tom Biggins continued: “Telford has already suffered severely from Post office closures in the last ten years. To now propose closing a viable business at Randlay, because it is a mile away from the Town Centre, defies logic.
“David Wright MP keeps saying that the government is making these cuts because Post Offices are losing money. The truth of the matter is that Randlay is not losing money. It is one of the busiest Post Offices in Telford and had it not been for this proposal would otherwise have a sound long-term future.
“This closure must be stopped. I would encourage all local residents to come to our Public Meeting on Monday evening. If this is not possible, then please sign our petition which can be found at Randlay Post Office, or on my website at www.tombiggins4teldford.com.
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Notes to Editor:
- Closure programme: Post Office Ltd will be looking to close between 12% and 15% of Sub Post Offices within the Telford area. The review process started formally on 14th January 2008, ahead of a public consultation which runs for six weeks between 1st April and 9th June. Announcements of any closures are expected on 1st July with closures taking effect from 29th July 2008.
Post Office Closures: What YOU should know
- Labour holds the record for closing Post Offices faster than any other Government -almost 10 a week since 1997.
- 4,000 Post Offices have already closed under Labour - that’s a quarter of the country’s Post Office network.
- The Government’s announcement that it will shut down a further 2,500 Post Offices will continue to decimate the network; by the time of the next election, Gordon Brown will have closed down a third of the entire Post Office network.
- The target that the Government has set for closures is arbitrary and illogical, taking no account of whether a Post Office marked for closure is profitable or not.
- Countless communities will lose their only shop and vulnerable people will lose a service they depend upon. Ministers have taken no account of the needs of the elderly, of the disabled, or of the most disadvantaged - the very ones who will lose out most.
- As few as 4,000 of Britain’s 14,300 Post Offices may survive Labour’s decade.
What the Conservatives would do
- Give sub-Post Offices more freedom to offer a wider range of business services.
- Push for more Post Offices to be ‘One Stop Shops’ - trained staff could then advise on a range of matters, including tax returns, pension entitlements, opening hours and so on.
- Encourage local Councils to open ‘Council Counters’ in local branches.
- Allow the Post Office to work with carriers other than the Royal Mail.
- Prevent the Royal Mail taking business away from sub-Post Offices by under-cutting the prices they can charge for postage.
Further information from:
Tom Biggins, Parliamentary Spokesman for Telford
Email: tom@tombiggins4telford.com (www.tombiggins4telford.com)
