PRESS RELEASE - COUNTY COUNCIL
of 11 June 08 Council fights to save lifeline Post Offices Carmarthenshire councillors have called on local Assembly Members to take urgent steps to help the local authority to defend post offices in the county.
They have questioned the Post Office over plans to close what they say is a disproportionate number of branches in the county leaving large rural areas without a permanent sub post office.
The council has already taken steps to put forward its views on the plans. Managers from the Post Office attended a special meeting at county hall yesterday (Tuesday) when councillors and council officers put their concerns directly to them.
Royal Mail Group head of external relations Stuart Taylor, Post Office Ltd regional development manager Tony Jones, and Royal Mail Group senior external relations manager Heulyn Gwyn Davies were at the meeting, along with Eifion Pritchard, chair of Postwatch Wales, and Keith Richards, executive officer of the National Federation of Subpostmasters.
The managers told the meeting that closures were necessary because of the loss of customers and a dramatic loss of Government business. As part of the South and West Wales Area Plan published by the Post Office this week, 59 branches would be affected – 25 of those in Carmarthenshire, 15 in Pembrokeshire, eight in Neath Port Talbot, seven in Bridgend and four in Swansea. Of the 25 Carmarthenshire branches, 13 would be replaced with some kind of outreach service and 12 would close altogether.
The outreach service would be guaranteed until 2011. Councillors warned that wide areas in the countryside would be left without a permanent sub post office. Council deputy leader Cllr Kevin Madge said: The Assembly's One Wales document states that they will be considering introducing a Post Office Development Fund in 2009'.
However, our post offices are closing now.
We are therefore writing to local AMs Helen Mary Jones, Rhodri Glyn Thomas and Angela Burns to ask them why this cannot be introduced now. It will be too late in 2009 for 25 of our post offices.
The council is considering the possibility of taking over some sub post offices but has stressed that it would need Assembly funding to be able to do so. Council assistant chief executive Chris Burns said: We are one of those local authorities that use post office services considerably to enable local people to pay council tax and rent. Some time ago we considered withdrawing the council tax facility as it does have a cost for us. We were largely convinced not to do so by petitions warning that it would jeopardise the future of post offices in the county. It is disappointing to see the list and to find out that out of 59 post offices in the region set to close, we have 25 in Carmarthenshire. In Swansea there are only four.
It is difficult to understand why these closures are falling disproportionately on Carmarthenshire when we have been a very active partner with the Post Office.
We do not feel we are getting a return for the decision we made. Last Updated: 11/6/2008