Camden News
Publications by New Journal Enterprises
spacer
  Home Archive Competition Jobs Tickets Accommodation Dating Contact us
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
Camden New Journal - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 20 March 2008
 
I’ll see Post Office in court

• THE local high street is vital to the life of most communities in London.
One of the shops we all take for granted is the local post office.
Two months ago the Royal Mail announced that they would close 171 post offices across London.
Here in the borough of Camden they want to close the Englands Lane, Hampstead Heath and Highgate High Street post offices.
On behalf of you here in Camden and for all Londoners, I’m going to fight them, which is why I am taking the post office to court.
Since I first came to office in 2000 nearly half of London’s post offices have been closed while at the same time the number of people per post office has increased nearly 80 per cent.
It simply defies logic to close post offices when London is expanding, so instead of closing down local post offices they should be opening more offices to serve the community.
If Post Office Ltd are allowed to get away with these savage cuts to the service the biggest losers will be the most disadvantaged Londoners, including the elderly, the disabled and those of you who use the service to pick up benefits and child support.
I simply won’t let the most disadvantaged in London lose this vital service without a fight.
That is why, this week I began legal proceedings against the post office. I hope the courts will force Post Office Ltd to conduct a more thorough consultation with Londoners and reconsider their closure programme.
KEN LIVINGSTONE
Mayor of London

No closures

• LIKE local residents, the council is opposed to the proposed post office closures in the borough.
That’s why the leaders of all four political parties wrote to Post Office Ltd to set out our concerns (Town Hall could run post offices, March 13).
The council strongly objects to the proposals on the following grounds:
l Camden is a vibrant and busy borough, and now a key international destination with a population expected to increase by around 10 per cent by 2016.
l Projections of employment show a growth of 12 per cent between 2006 and 2016, higher than the 10 per cent London average, with an estimated 14.3 million visitors coming to the borough and a quarter of a million people coming to work.
l Camden has areas of relative affluence but also some of the most deprived wards in the country.
l The impact of yet more closures in Camden can only increase pressure on the elderly, disabled, those with young children and those who do not have access to a bank account.
We are looking at Essex County Council’s proposal to fund some of the 31 post offices that have closed in Essex.
We don’t yet have enough detail to know whether this would be a viable solution for the four post offices under threat in Camden.
Meanwhile, on behalf of the council, I continue to urge residents to make your voices heard.
CLLR KEITH MOFFITT
Leader, Camden Council

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@thecnj.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Tuesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

Comment on this article.
(You must supply your full name and email address for your comment to be published)

Name:

Email:

Comment:


 

 
spacer














spacer


Theatre Music
Arts & Events Attractions
spacer
 
 


  up