Closures will hit the elderly and vulnerable and we intend to resist them. Experience in other areas indicate that when communities are notified which post offices will close, they are given six weeks for consultation.


This is seldom enough time to mobilise a meaningful response, we have been advised that we were due to be told in April which locations are to close in Pontefract, Castleford and Normanton. However government has pressured the Post Office to withhold notifications until after the May council elections and they appear to have agreed.


My colleagues are raising petitions to oppose closures, we are already receiving support with people starting to sign. By giving the chance to register their concerns now, we will be able to put forward a strong response to government and the Post Office when they finally reveal their plans.
We hope our MPs will also exert some influence, but as in last closure programme, where they often stood outside post offices looking glum, it was their government that used the block vote to drive it through.

Your local postmaster will be aware that closures are intended, but they will be kept in the dark until after the May election about which locations are to be targeted. The elections are now the opportunity to tell Gordon Brown what they think. Conservatives are fighting this threat.


Coun GEOFF WALSH
Deputy Leader Conservative Group WMDC
District Councillor Pontefract South