11/12/07 - Cllr Tomlinson, Post Offices To Face Closure

Five post offices in and around Swindon could shut in a new round of closures sweeping the country.

The Post Office has begun a six-week consultation into its plans to close 36 out of 234 branches in Wiltshire and West Berkshire.

But bosses say nearly everyone will still live within a mile of a post office.

The proposals include the introduction of 11 outreach services to help smaller communities left without a post office. This could mean a mobile service visiting at set times or a service set up within the local pub or church.

The Government has carried out a three-month national consultation before deciding to close 2,500 of the 14,000 post offices nationally.

Tim Nickolls, Post Office Ltd's network development manager for West Berkshire and Wiltshire said: "Taking the decision to close any post office branch is always very difficult and we know will cause concern to many of our customers.

Branches in the Swindon area facing the axe:

Swindon Advertiser 11/12/07

Cllr Justin Tomlinson, "Back in 2005 there was consultation for 3 potential closures. We handed in objections from approx 90% of the residents in the surrounding areas, yet all 3 still closed.

Why does the Government bother consult if it has already made its mind up?  This Government has done nothing but rip the heart out of our community Post Office network by repeatadly diverting business away from the Post Office.

However, I do welcome the principal of the 11 outreach services, and as the Lead Member for libraries would be very happy to look at them using our facilities."