Letter from Graham Brady MP
Further to your letter, I wanted to give some
feedback on the consultation process in Altrincham and Sale West.
I was informed that two Post Offices in my constituency
faced closure, a rural branch in Dunham and a branch in Timperley,
in both cases the first named alternative branch does not have
disabled access nor, in each case, is there any public transport
link between the threatened branch and the proposed alternative.
The six week consultation process began on 6
November 2007 and ended on 17 December 2007. The final decision
over the closures is due to be displayed in Post Offices on Tuesday
15 January 2008.
I met with managers from the Post Office shortly
after the consultation period was announced. After putting forward
the various points and objections to the managers my strong impression
was that there was very little which could have been said to alter
the decision to close the two branches. Local Councillors have
formally objected to the closures, tailoring their objections
to the criteria outlined by the Post Office ie the significant
impact on a rural community, the absence of public transport and
so on.
The consultation process has in this case been
a formality and, regardless of the validity of the objections
raised, will have no impact on the final outcome.
I hope that this is of some help to the Committee.
10 January 2008
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