Letter from Ann McKechin MP
In October 2007, Post Office Ltd published a
local area plan proposal for the Greater Glasgow, Central Scotland,
Argyll and Bute area. These proposals included closing half of
the current eight post office branches in the Glasgow North constituency.
Gilshochill, Hyndland, Kelvindale and West End branches were all
earmarked for closure. Postwatch agreed with me that the effect
of the original closure plan would have left a hole in the network
service. In addition the timing of the closures coincided with
the removal of the largest post office in my constituency to a
temporary Portakabin facility for a 12-14 month period to facilitate
the reconstruction of the major shopping centre serving the community.
Following the six week consultation period,
Post Office Ltd produced this week its decision plan that included
the removal of closure plans for Hyndland and Kelvindale post
offices. I was understandably pleased that Post Office Ltd had
decided to keep these two post offices open, and also disappointed
that they had not reached a similar decision about the Gilshochill
and West End post offices.
One key feature of the consultation period was
that it was very brief lasting only six weeks. Although there
was a large response in the constituency with over 4,000 people
signing up to my petition against the closures, the relative shortness
of the consultation period meant that there was a very tight constraint
on getting people involved in the campaign or organising public
meetings. Inevitably, those communities and individuals who are
more used to participating in such consultations were more quickly
able to mobilise to express their views. Those individuals and
communities who are so often under-represented in public policy
making were likely to find it more difficult to have their views
taken into account. Often these people will be those who rely
most on the services of local post offices: the elderly, the infirm
or disabled, and those living in areas of high social deprivation.
I welcomed the decision to reprieve two of the
post offices in Glasgow North. However, I can see no logical justification
for then adding two other post offices in other parts of the city
to the list to "compensate" for keeping Hyndland and
Kelvindale open. If there was no strategic need to close these
post offices when the original list was compiled, I fail to see
how keeping open two post offices in one part of the city alters
the strategic provision of services in a very different part of
the city. This damages the integrity of the whole process in the
eyes of the public. It effectively sets communities against each
other in defence of their local post office services.
20 January 2008
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