Rural communities must be properly consulted on the future of their post offices
- Posted on:
- Tuesday, 13th March 2007 at 10:48am
The Government must give people and local businesses in rural areas adequate time to respond to local proposals to restructure the post office network.
Launching our response to the DTI's post office network consultation, Stuart Burgess, our chair and Rural Advocate said:
“We accept the need for some post office restructuring. The present position is not sustainable in the long term.
But local communities have told us that the proposals for a six week local consultation around changes to the local network, which might include the closure of existing post offices and the introduction of more outreach access points, is too short.
People want a real and open consultation and to be involved in developing solutions that meet their needs."
Our response calls for any reorganisation and reduction in the number of post office outlets to have built in safeguards for the most vulnerable people and for rural businesses.
Alternative ways of providing post office services, such as, mobile provision, delivering postal services directly to people’s homes and hosting post offices in other businesses, such as pubs, community centres and village halls, need to be supported.
But whilst these solutions are developed, it is essential that the commitment to prevent avoidable closures continues until an agreed and workable local strategy is in place.
Full press release
Our response to the consultation
How your views helped informed our response
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