Post Office closures

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Daniel
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Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:16 pm
Location: London

Post Office closures

Post by Daniel »

It's expected that the government are going to announce widespread post office closures this week. As someone currently living in a rural town this strikes me as yet another terribly short-sighted move, further endangering communities.

Typically for this government, although it sounds like something that should really better suit the Thatcher era rather than the Labour Party, the considerations seem to lie solely on the profitability of the Post Office rather than the much broader service it provides especially in villages where the Post Office may be one of the only businesses available locally. If we're so keen on cutting CO2 emissions surely there's something to be said for having useful services within walking distance?

If many Post Offices are unprofitable then would a better solution not be to look into new services that the Post Office could provide that suit modern communities? One interesting suggestion I heard mooted on the radio would be to use Post Offices as local collection points for the many couriered packages that fail delivery.

Currently couriers to my home town come from depots in Carlisle, some 60+ miles away. If someone isn't home to take delivery the van must repeat it's minimum 120 mile journey again and again. What a waste of time and resources. Or how about using the Post Office as a means of verifying what's been received on an ebay transaction. A 3rd party confirmation that you're received a brick rather than your ordered printer. No doubt there could be many other options too if the government could be bothered to give it a bit of thought.

If Post Offices are closed, then as with the swiftly sold off railway land of the 60s or police stations of the 90s it will be a whole lot more problematic to ever reclaim the prime locations the Post Offices currently hold. We're facing a ruinous short term policy typical of many a bad goverment and in my mind it must be opposed to the end.

The Diamond Geezer blog highlights many good points on the issue: link

Dan.
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