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I’ll see Post Office in court
• THE local high street is vital to the life of most communities in London.
One of the shops we all take for granted is the local post office.
Two months ago the Royal Mail announced that they would close 171 post offices across London.
Here in the borough of Camden they want to close the Englands Lane, Hampstead Heath and Highgate High Street post offices.
On behalf of you here in Camden and for all Londoners, I’m going to fight them, which is why I am taking the post office to court.
Since I first came to office in 2000 nearly half of London’s post offices have been closed while at the same time the number of people per post office has increased nearly 80 per cent.
It simply defies logic to close post offices when London is expanding, so instead of closing down local post offices they should be opening more offices to serve the community.
If Post Office Ltd are allowed to get away with these savage cuts to the service the biggest losers will be the most disadvantaged Londoners, including the elderly, the disabled and those of you who use the service to pick up benefits and child support.
I simply won’t let the most disadvantaged in London lose this vital service without a fight.
That is why, this week I began legal proceedings against the post office. I hope the courts will force Post Office Ltd to conduct a more thorough consultation with Londoners and reconsider their closure programme.
KEN LIVINGSTONE
Mayor of London
No closures
• LIKE local residents, the council is opposed to the proposed post office closures in the borough.
That’s why the leaders of all four political parties wrote to Post Office Ltd to set out our concerns (Town Hall could run post offices, March 13).
The council strongly objects to the proposals on the following grounds:
l Camden is a vibrant and busy borough, and now a key international destination with a population expected to increase by around 10 per cent by 2016.
l Projections of employment show a growth of 12 per cent between 2006 and 2016, higher than the 10 per cent London average, with an estimated 14.3 million visitors coming to the borough and a quarter of a million people coming to work.
l Camden has areas of relative affluence but also some of the most deprived wards in the country.
l The impact of yet more closures in Camden can only increase pressure on the elderly, disabled, those with young children and those who do not have access to a bank account.
We are looking at Essex County Council’s proposal to fund some of the 31 post offices that have closed in Essex.
We don’t yet have enough detail to know whether this would be a viable solution for the four post offices under threat in Camden.
Meanwhile, on behalf of the council, I continue to urge residents to make your voices heard.
CLLR KEITH MOFFITT
Leader, Camden Council
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