Farnham's West Street Post Office: Royal Mail spin is a smokescreen (South West Surrey Liberal Democrats)

South West Surrey Liberal Democrats <info@swsurreylibdems.org.uk>

Farnham's West Street Post Office: Royal Mail spin is a smokescreen

November 16, 2004 4:09 PM

Simon Cordon, the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for SW Surrey, is claiming that recent assurances given by Royal Mail in the Farnham Herald, about the future of the West Street General Post Office are a "worthless".

Simon says that the official line of Royal Mail plc, contained in a letter to MPs, covers up the fact that large-scale closures could be on the cards from 2006 onwards.

"Royal Mail's positive spin about their review of crown offices is a smokescreen", said Simon. "They say that only five crown offices will close in 2005/06 but their review is unlikely to be concluded until after this. It's when we see the results of the review that we shall know whether other crown offices, including Farnham's, are safe".

Simon says that Royal Mail has a history of giving assurances that they can then "wriggle out of".

"They closed the Boundstone office and said that was it for Farnham, or 'they had no other closure plans'. A year later we lose the East Street and Ridgway offices, despite Tesco's willingness to pay for a new post office to replace the Ridgway one. The Royal Mail is using every opportunity possible to close post offices. In the case of the Crown Offices, which they own, I am in no doubt that asset stripping is in their minds".

Simon says the Government must make up their mind. "They need to decide whether post offices are an important part of the community or just a business to run for profit and nothing else. That's not to say they should be inefficient but that they have a wider community role", he said.

Simon has written to David Mills, Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to seek a cast-iron guarantee about the future of Farnham's West Street Post Office.

"The spin in Mr Mill's letter to MPs is not good enough. Let's see whether he can match this spin with the assurance I am seeking about the future of Farnham's General post office after 2006", added Simon.