'Save Our Post Office' Campaign Goes to the Guildhall

5.13.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 11th Feb 2008

Liberal Democrat Councillors fighting to prevent Post Office closures in Bath and North East Somerset are taking their campaign to the Guildhall.

The list of Post Offices under threat will be published on 26 February, but as the next Council meeting is on 19 February, Councillors have tabled a pre-emptive motion calling for the Council to oppose closures and respond to the consultation accordingly. The motion also calls for the support of local MPs' to be sought and for the Council to look into services it could provide through the Post Office network.

Nigel Roberts and Steve Hedges are campaigning against Post Office closures

Councillor Nigel Roberts (Lib Dem, Odd Down), who will propose the motion on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group, commented, "I believe that our local Post Offices play a vital role in our communities. Any closure affects the vulnerable and the elderly and forces more people into using their cars. Whether you are collecting a pension, applying for a passport or just posting a parcel, our Post Offices are there for us.

"A closed branch doesn't just mean the loss of services to local people, there are also many knock on effects, such as reduced custom at neighbouring shops as customers travel to a different area to use Post Office services.

"Since 1999, twenty Post Offices have been closed in Bath & North East Somerset. The Government's new closure programme will mean the loss of another 2500 local Post Offices across Britain and several are expected to close in our area. Liberal Democrats are already working hard to oppose these closures. We need more Post Offices, not more cuts."

The consultation will run for 6 weeks from 26 February.

You can sign the Bath Lib Dems petition at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/savebathspostoffices

The motion reads as follows:

Council notes:

1. With concern the Government announcement on 17th May 2007 to close one in five Post Office branches in the UK which could equate to 8 closures across Bath and North East Somerset;

2. That the Post Office Ltd six week consultation period on closures in Bristol and Somerset is due to begin on 26th February 2008;

3. That people in Bath and North East Somerset value the role of the local Post Office in their community and do not wish to see the closure of any more Post Offices in the area;

4. Believes that Post Offices are of particular social benefit where they anchor shops in rural communities and local high streets, and that Post Office closures may mean the loss of a shop in a local community;

5. Believes that preservation of local services such as Post Offices will be increasingly important given the amount of new house-building planned for the district in the next few years;

Council resolves:

1. To oppose the Post Office closure programme and respond to the consultation accordingly;

2. To contact local MPs to ask for their support in this matter and elicit their views on the network change programme;

3. To ask the Chief Executive to investigate ways in which the Council could provide services through the Post Office network and the possibility of co-locating Post Office counters in Council properties such as libraries.