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A home for post office
• POST office closures affect the most vulnerable in our society: elderly people having to walk or take a bus, carers having to spend part of their allocated caring time on travelling to the post office instead of simply walking up the road and families on low incomes having to spend money on bus fares to pick up social security benefits.
They also mean more journeys to distant post offices, which have a negative impact on the local and global environment and on residents’ health.
Postwatch says the Upper Street and Highbury Corner branches “need to increase capacity” to meet the needs of new customers as a result of the closure programme. These branches are already renowned locally for their long queues, often snaking out of the buildings.
The Upper Street branch has accessibility problems as it has a step at the entrance. Yet we are now asked to believe the closure of Essex Road can somehow be addressed by increasing capacity there.
Under this government, a fifth of all post offices have closed, as have tens of thousands of independent small shops. It is clear the only way to save our post offices is to take action at local rather than national level.
There is good evidence from a pilot scheme in Leicestershire that government information and services can successfully be provided through post offices, boosting their financial position and improving the service for residents.
Islington’s Green Party councillor, Katie Dawson, is calling on the council executive to bring forward urgent proposals for providing post office services on council premises in conjunction with council services. If Labour and the Liberal Democrats support this, then we in Islington can guarantee the future of our post offices.
James Humphreys
Islington Green Party
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