Residents Back Campaign For New Post Office

Cllr Neil McGovern
(LD, King's Hedges)

Cambridge residents have backed a campaign for a new post office in the King’s Hedges area of the city.

More than 75 per cent of people surveyed by ward councillor, Neil McGovern said they wanted a new post office to replace the one on Cameron Road which was demolished to make way for housing.

After the post office was closed - under a Labour government-run programme which saw more than 7,100 post offices lost including almost a third in Cambridge – residents have been using post offices in Arbury Court, King’s Hedges Road and even Milton.

Now the Liberal Democrats in government are changing the rules to make it easier to open new post offices.

Cllr McGovern said: “Post offices are a vital part of our community and it is clear from my survey, that residents need them, use them and value them. Labour failed to take this into account when they embarked on their massive closure programme which resulted in the loss of the Cameron Road post office.

“I want to see a new post office to replace the one that was lost. The Post Office is the social centre of many communities and it is important that it is easily accessible particularly for the elderly and disabled who cannot travel long distances.

“My survey has demonstrated how much residents have missed their post office and want it back.”

The government has committed £1.34 billion of funding over four years to the Post Office to help modernise and develop the network.

Central Post Office to move in January

Councillors have been written to by the Post Office to inform us that the main post office on St Andrew’s Street is moving across the street.

The current office (9-11) will close at 5.30 on 5th January 2011, and the new one will open just across the road at 57-58 at 9.00 am the next day.

We are assured that the new branch will good access: it will have level access with an automatic door, a low level writing desk and serving counter. The range of services and facilities available will be unchanged.

It remains to be seen if the move will improve queueing times!

Post Office Meeting delayed

To allow more time to get the message out to people so we can get as many people involved as possible the public meeting arranged by the City Council about the Post Office closures has been delayed until 11 August at 7pm.

Post Offices: Details clarified

I attended a briefing session for councillors on the Post Office closure programme this evening.

The bad news is that even though none of our Post Offices are included in the list going out to consultation it doesn't mean that they won't be on the final list in September.

The reason for this is that should the consulation identify any Offices in need of reprieve, they would probably have to identify replacement offices to close. Hopefully this will not happen.

Currently the consultation period runs until 26 August. However the City Council are trying to get the consultation extended beyond the summer holiday period to allow as many people as possible to respond.

Further bad news is that the consultation is limited in what it can consider.

It was made clear that Post Office Ltd would only consider what they called "errors or misleading information".

The Liberal Democrats will continue to fight to save as many Offices as we can. The Labour Government have decided that 2500 Offices must close. The Tories have no plan to save Post Offices.

The City Council have a public meeting on 22 July in the Guildhall from 7pm.

Post Office Closures update

The Cambridge News has obtained a list of Post Office closures in Cambridgeshire. If true the good news is that none of the King's Hedges Post Offices are threatened by the government's closure plans. However the Post Office in Station Road Impington is on the list, as are three offices in Cambridge City.

The Liberal Democrats are opposed to the closure plans and are the only party to set out a plan to stop closures and open new offices where needed.

When I hear confirmation of the details we'll let you know. In the meantime well done to the Cambridge News for getting this information.

Save Our Post Offices: Public Meeting

The Post Office will publish their closure plans for Cambridgeshire on 8 July.

There will be a public meeting in the Guildhall to consider the implications of this for Cambridge on Tuesday 22 July 2008 from 7pm.

Ian Nimmo-Smith, Liberal Democrat Leader of Cambridge City Council, said "It is really important that as many people as possible give Post Office Limited their views on the proposed closures and we have arranged this public meeting for residents so that they can find out more information and express their concerns. We believe post offices offer a vital service for local communities, particularly for elderly people who may be less mobile and for people on lower incomes. Post offices are often the hub of a neighbourhood and we are very concerned about these proposed closures."

We will of course give you more information when the plans are published.

Post office closures: news in July

Cambridge will hear in July which of our Post Offices will be under threat of closure from the Labour Government's closure scheme.

We will update you when we hear.