Have your say on post office future

Feb 3 2010 By Russell Butt, Woking Informer

A PUBLIC consultation began this week into plans to reopen and relocate a post office that has been closed more than a year.

On Tuesday Post Office Ltd announced a six-week public consultation on its proposal to reopen the West End Post Office.

The branch has been temporarily closed since September 2008, due the resignation of the sub-postmaster and the withdrawal of the premises for Post Office use.

The new plan is to reopen this branch as a trial Post Office 150 yards away from its original location in West End High Street.

This change is subject to the applicant's successful appointment.

Customers would benefit from extended opening hours throughout the week and opening Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings. There is a slope at the entrance with a wide door to assist customers with mobility constraints. Internally there will be a low-level serving counter. The branch will offer a wide range of Post Office services including automated banking services, bill and budget payment schemes and postal services.

A Post Office spokesperson said: "Our priority is to safeguard Post Office services to the local community in the longer term. We have been exploring a number of options that would enable us to restore services to West End and the establishment of a Post Office local presents the best possible solution to our customers in this area.

"We will be trialling this new service over the next year. During this time Post Office Ltd will carefully monitor the situation to ascertain if this service meets the needs of the local community and would provide a commercially-viable alternative to the way our services have traditionally been offered. The success of this trial is, to a great extent, reliant on our customers using this branch on a regular basis and we will be reviewing the situation over the coming months."

During the public consultation Post Office Ltd is welcoming feedback on any issues customers would like it to consider before a final decision is taken on this proposal.

The public consultation closes on Tuesday, March 16 and submissions can be made during this period by post to: Post Office Ltd, c/o National Consultation Team, PO Box 2060, Watford, WD18 8ZW, or via email to: consultation@postoffice.co.uk.

Alternatively, call the customer helpline on 08457 22 33 44, or Textphone 08457 223 355.