Post Office Closures

You will, I expect, have heard by now that despite the massive campaign against the closure of our two local Post Offices, Post Office Ltd has confirmed its decision to close both Greenodd and Leven Valley Post Offices and replace them with a mobile outreach service. However, POL have not finalised the details on the outreach service so have been unable to give a formal date for closure. It is expected to be sometime in September/November. However, Tim Farron MP is keen to appeal against these decisions and to continue the fight. The Greenodd campaign committee says that it is currently taking legal advice with regards to a judicial review.

Keep in touch with developments through:

Greenodd Post Office: www.saveourpostoffice.net
Leven Valley Post Office: www.cumbriaslevenvalley.co.uk/98.html

 

This map shows the enormous area of South Lakeland that would be without a post office if the closures go ahead: some 350 square kilometres.

(Red dots are Greenodd and Leven Valley threatened with closure; purple stars are POs remaining open)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


By now I expect you will have heard that both our local post offices (Leven Valley and Greenodd) are scheduled for closure. The Post Office proposes to replace them with an 'outreach' mobile van for only 11 hours per week. We now have a  'local public consultation period' to give our views on these proposals (closing date 27th May). We are urging as many individuals to write in to the Post Office as possible to try to prevent these closures.  Colton Parish Council has written expressing its concern (see below).

Greenodd Post Office (Lloyd and Janet Willis) held a public meeting in Greenodd Village Hall on Wednesday 26th March which was so well attended that people were having to stand in other rooms and even outside to listen - an estimated 340 people came along. Greenodd PO are setting up a website as part of their campaign - see www.saveourpostoffice.net for the latest information. You can contact Janet and Lloyd on 01229 861201.

Leven Valley Post Office is also to hold a public meeting in early April. Their telephone number is 015395 30887 for further information.

You are urged to write to:

Richard Lynds
Network Development Manager
Post Office Ltd
FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM

CC: Tim Farron MP,  John Hutton MP, Postwatch

The letter should be your personal views, but you might like to include the following issues:

  • Why an outreach service cannot provide the necessary service for the community

  • Lack of suitable location with parking for such a service

  • Difficulty in getting to Ulverston, paying for parking, having to walk a long way from the car-park

  • The already long queues in Ulverston Post Office

  • The fact that our local Post Offices are well used

  • How the closure will affect you and the community as a whole.

  • Reference the fact that the following Post offices, which are clustered together are apparently remaining open: Lindale, Grange over Sands, Kents Bank, Allithwaite, Flookborough and Cartmel - when both our local POs, which serve a much larger area, are to close.

Colton Parish Council's letter to the Post Office:

Text Box: Tel:        01229 861408 e-mail:  coltonpc@btinternet.com web:      coltonparishcouncil.org.uk Text Box: Colton Parish Council Text Box: Clerk: Ms Mandy Lane Lilac Cottage Oxen Park Ulverston  LA12 8HG  

 

 

 

 

 

               

 

Network Development Manager
Post Office Ltd.,
FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM

29th April 2008

Dear Mr Lynds, 

Proposed closure of Greenodd and Leven Valley Post Offices, South Lakeland, Cumbria

I am writing to express the dismay of Colton Parish Council at the proposed closure of both of our local post offices: Greenodd and Leven Valley. We explained in our response to the DTI consultation in March 2007 that our large rural parish (Colton, South Lakeland, Cumbria) no longer has a Post Office at all, although it used to have three.  Parishioners currently make good use of these two post offices. Closure would mean that the 760 Colton residents and those of the neighbouring 4 parishes - a total of nearly 3000 people - would have to travel by car (there being no public transport) to Ulverston, a distance of between 4 and 15 miles, depending where in the area they live.  Colton Parish Council considers that such closures are wholly unacceptable, depriving rural dwellers of yet another basic facility, and increasing car use. We consider that the limited mobile 'outreach' service you propose for only 11 hours per week is entirely inadequate.

We urge you strongly to reconsider this proposal for the following key reasons:

1.      The closure of Greenodd and Leven Valley will leave a huge area of South Lakeland  - about 20 miles in each direction (see attached map) without a post office. This is oddly inconsistent with policy in neighbouring areas, for example Grange-over-Sands, where there appear to be 6 permanent post offices remaining open in its immediate vicinity. It also appears to be inconsistent with your own criterion that "95% rural population be within 3 miles of their nearest Post Office® outlet".

2.      Both Greenodd and Leven Valley post offices are popular and well-used.

3.      A 11 hour per week mobile van cannot possibly provide the service we need in this area. Many residents work locally and run local businesses and cannot wait until some inconvenient appointed 'slot'  in the week to deal with their postal matters. They require a properly run local post office. These closures work directly against the hard work of Colton Parish Council who are trying to encourage the start-up of small businesses to provide employment in the area.

4.      Ulverston Post Office is well-known for being unacceptably busy, with people regularly having to queue for 15-20 minutes. It is difficult to imagine how it would cope with the outfall from Greenodd and Leven Valley closures. It is also awkward and costly to visit by car (the only  transport available to Colton residents). 

5.      The next nearest Post Office - Hawkshead - is even further away for many residents, and the car-parking there is even worse, with a minimum charge of £2.70 - hardly viable for popping out to post a parcel.  Residents in the immediate vicinity of Hawkshead get a free parking pass, but this is not available to the residents of Colton Parish.

6.      The Greenodd and Leven Valley shops are truly a life-line for elderly residents. The shops will probably not survive without the post office and this will undoubtedly affect trade for the butcher and baker in Greenodd. Those elderly residents of the parish who still drive can manage the country roads, but the A590 to Ulverston is too busy for them. Neither can they afford £2.70 for the car-park to visit Hawkshead post office.

7.      A survey of countryside-based people, carried out by the NFU Countryside Magazine, showed that:

·       the 'service' most regularly used by members was the Post Office (77%), followed  by the local shop (68%).

·       only 64% of people considered that a Post Office was "currently provided" [in their community?]. 

·       when asked which services were "under threat", top of the pile was the Post Office. 

·       when asked which service was "essential for the future", again, the first choice was the Post Office.

The above statistics confirm our own view that a local post office is very important to rural communities and that it provides an essential public service that should be heavily supported by Government.  Rather than being reduced in number, the previous network of post offices should be reinstated.  Even as businesses, their potential has been undermined by the removal of some services that were offered previously (car tax etc)..

Post Offices are symbols of rural sustainability and should be maintained at least at their current number, if not increased.  Otherwise, this Government will be overseeing the further decline of rural living, the promotion of unsustainable transport policies, the loss of jobs and will be feeding the growing assertion that it is a government for city-dwellers.

Yours sincerely,

Colin Barr (Chairman) on behalf of Colton Parish Council, South Lakeland, Cumbria.

CC:     Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Westmorland and Lonsdale)
          John Hutton (Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
          Postwatch