One word: gutted!
We learned the awful news today that the Post Office Ltd is to close Erleigh Road Post Office. This is terrible news and shows that the consultation process carried out by Post Office Ltd was a complete sham.
We would like to thank everyone who signed our petition and wrote to Post Office Ltd to protest against this pointless closure.
As part of our campaign to Save Reading's Post Offices , Kirsten, Glenn, Gareth and I collected thousands of petition signatures from local residents all around Erleigh Road and across Reading desperate not to see their local Post Office closed.
It seems that the views of local residents who use these Post Office were totally disregarded.
As Gareth Epps warned earlier this year, there is a price to be paid for post office closures and the closure of the Erleigh Road Post Office will hit the elderly and vulnerable hardest. Many of these residents do not have access to the internet and are not able to walk further to the London Road branch.
There are few banks outside the town centre, and those forced to use the Post Office in the town will have to wait in even longer queues. Residents living around Christchurch Rd who lost their local Post Office branch a few years ago) will now be in in an even worst position.
As Kirsten has pointed out, the loss of the Post Office on Erleigh Road will threaten the survival of other local shops. The chemist could now potentially be at risk. Do we really want our local shopping areas to become dominated by estate agents and take aways?
I am very sorry to see that the four other Post Offices earmarked for closure will also close. The closures leave a number of neighbourhoods in Reading worse off.
The closure of Basingstoke Road Post Office, another busy and popular Post Office, will badly effect residents in Whitley and in Katesgrove.
The 'consultation' by Post Office Ltd was flawed and failed to take account of local people's views. Click here or see below what Post Office Ltd concluded about the future Erleigh Road Post Office:
"The main concern raised by the respondents was the impact on the local community, in particular on the elderly and disabled. Local transport and the impact on the environment were also raised.
Post Office Ltd has considered all responses received and a review of this proposal has been
undertaken. Although there is no direct bus service, there are two alternative branches within approximately 1 mile, the nearest being less than half a mile away, along mainly level terrain. Thesebranches offer additional services and access for customers with mobility difficulties. Taking these and all other relevant factors into account the decision is to proceed with the closure of Post Office® Erleigh Road branch."
Commenting on the closure announcement, Cllr Gareth Epps, Parliamentary Campaigner for Reading East said:
"This is a disgrace. It is a direct attack on Reading's communities by the Labour Government that forced this closure programme through against overwhelming public opinion.
"Liberal Democrats and local residents deplore these closures. They have been railroaded by a Government which is continuing to destroy the Post Office Network and does not care about our communities.
"The most vulnerable in our communities will be hit hardest when these much-loved institutions are forced to close. All the evidence that some of Reading's most vulnerable communities will be disadvantaged by the closures has been ignored - not just by Post Office Ltd but by Reading Borough Council and indeed by Postwatch. It is clear that the consultation exercise was riddled with errors and was beneath contempt.
"Labour's crocodile tears on the closures are hard to take. Labour politicians appeared in photos 'opposing' the closures locally and doing nothing in Parliament to save the Post Office network from their own Government.
"The Tories emerge with no credit, either, after they sided with Labour at the Council in blocking our move for the Council to clearly oppose Post Office closures in Reading. Labour and the Tories on Reading Borough Council pulled the rug from under these Post Offices by failing to formally oppose their closure.
"I am actively looking into commencing Judicial Review proceedings regarding Basingstoke Road. The closure process in this case was clearly based on false premises regarding access to other branches. There may be grounds for action to be taken against other closures.
"It was left to the Lib Dems to send a message to the Post Office: stop the closures! I will not stop until I am certain that all possible avenues have been exhausted to prevent Labour's attack on Reading's communities."
So what next for Erleigh Road Post Office? Kirsten and I will be speaking to the staff in the coming weeks to offer support. You can help by supporting the staff at Erleigh Road as much as possible during this difficult time.
The formal process is as follows...
"All affected branches will now display a poster informing their customers about the decision that has
been reached. Further information will be provided shortly afterwards in branch to confirm the actual
date that the change will take place. This will be not less than four weeks from the date on which the
decision is announced and the poster displayed. Where appropriate, information will also be provided
in each branch to help customers choose an alternative branch that is suitable for them. We expect to
complete all changes in the West Berkshire and Wiltshire area by Spring 2008."
Thousands or Post Offices closed under the Tories, and thousands more are closing under Labour.
Find out more about the national Lib Dem campaign to Save Our Post Offices.
We will be sending in our petitions to Downing Street along with thousands of others signed by people across the UK, to protest against these needless closures.
