CAB warns of Post Office closure costs
CALDERDALE Citizens Advice Bureau is warning that plans to axe local post offices must not see pensioners, disabled people and those on low incomes struggle to access essential services.
The call comes following the Post Office announcement of which local branches may face closure. These include Midgley and Shade and Portsmouth in Todmorden.
Local people now have six weeks from the May 13 announcement date to make a case as to why their local service should be spared or to suggest alternative provisions.
Sylvia Valentine, acting chief executive said: "While we accept that some closures are inevitable, the post office is an absolute lifeline in areas like ours. The key question now is how essential services will be provided to those who need them most.
"The CAB is a strong supporter of local Post Offices, a large proportion of our clients rely on their local branch for a range of essential transactions, such as gaining access to their cash, paying bills and sending mail."
In a Citizens Advice online survey earlier this year, more than 90 per cent of people throughout the UK said they would be personally affected if their local post office were to close, and three-quarters said their community would be significantly affected.
Almost a third of the 1,000 people surveyed said they visited a post office several times a week - a figure rising to half of those aged over 65 and 47 per cent of those on means-tested benefits.
More than 60 per cent of those aged over 75 and those depending on means-tested benefits used the post office to pay bills, while 67 per cent of those living in rural areas relied on it to buy groceries.
Asked what people particularly value about local post offices, almost everyone mentioned the convenient location, said Ms Valentine.
Three quarters of respondents using a local post office can get there on foot at the moment, but if it closed, only 14 per cent would be able to walk to the nearest alternative branch. And 41per cent of people on means tested benefits said they would have to use public transport to reach an alternative branch if their nearest one closed, thus incurring extra cost.
Visit www.postoffice.co.uk for details of how to respond.
l Calderdale Council is to give people the opportunity to discuss the Post Office's proposals to close branches in Calderdale with a series of meetings throughout the district.
A meeting to discuss loss of Post Office facilities at Midgley will be held at Luddenden Foot Civic Institute, Station Road, Luddenden Foot on Friday, May 30 between 6pm and 7pm.
A similar meeting for the Todmorden area was held at Todmorden Town Hall last night. Post Offices at Shade and Portsmouth are under threat.
Calderdale Council's Cabinet Member, Community Services, Coun Amanda Byrne, said the meetings will provide people with a further opportunity to make their views known.
"It is essential that as many people as possible have the opportunity to let the Post Office know what they think about the proposals and hear why the Post Office is proposing these closures.
"These proposals will have a big impact on communities. Inevitably the people most affected will be older people, people with disabilities and those without access to their own transport,” she said.
The council has also produced a questionnaire and a petition. These are both available online by visiting the council’s website: www.calderdale.gov.uk.
Paper copies are available in council libraries and public buildings.
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Wednesday 30 May 2012
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