We can help Post Office to address closure issues
• I WOULD like to express my disappointment that the Post Office has not undertaken a wider consultation exercise on the closure of the Poland Street branch in Soho.
If the consultation team had written to us earlier, we could have informed them that although the WH Smith store is not far from Poland Street, the fact that it is outside Soho and north of Oxford Street means it is not considered local to the thousands of residents and businesses in the area.
Oxford Street is a very busy road and not easy to negotiate for people with mobility problems or those carrying large or awkward packages.
Such is the concern among residents and businesses, the City Council held a special committee meeting at which the Post Office were present to hear the concerns of the community. Just some of the concerns were the later opening times of the post office, the reduction in counters despite a predicted increase in business and the loss of familiar staff who know the local community and their needs.
The experience from Hammersmith and Fulham, where a franchise was agreed with WH Smith in 2006, has resulted in a loss of counters, increased queues and a fall in customer satisfaction.
I am concerned that the new arrangements do not see a repeat of these problems and I hope the Post Office’s consultation team will reflect on these concerns and adequately address them.
Given that the Post Office is about to embark on a wider closure programme, I would like to emphasise the importance of engaging with the City Council at an early stage in the process and keeping us informed of their proposals.
As a national body, the Post Office cannot know the local communities in the same way that we as the local authority do, and so we are in a position to provide advice and help with their consultation programme and be able to help you respond to the concerns from our residents and businesses.
CLLR DANNY CHALKLEY
Cabinet Member For Economic Development and Transportation at Westminster City Council
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