Council takes on Post Office over closures

Westminster City Council is to lobby the Post Office at a hearing next month on the closure of post offices in its borough.

The council claims that as high streets are forced to fight for their future because of increased competition from out-of-town developments, Post Offices are vital in attracting shoppers and providing community services.

In July, senior bosses at the Post Office will give evidence to a Westminster City Council Overview & Scrutiny Committee hearing that is examining the impact of proposed franchises and closures in the area. The council will seek to protect Post Offices under Policy SS1 of its Unitary Development Plan, which states: “Though all shops are considered important, local convenience shops are considered particularly important.” The council includes Post Offices in its list of local convenience stores.

Councillor Danny Chalkley, Westminster City Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Transport, said: “At a time when there appears to be a consensus in encouraging small shops and local trade to benefit the environment and help establish a sense of community, we are faced with the heart of many high streets being ripped out through Post Office closures.

“We hope the Government will put pressure on the service to reverse this backward policy, which will erode the vitality of high streets up and down the country and disenfranchise some of society’s most vulnerable people.”

Since 2003, six Post Offices have closed in Westminster, three of them in the Harrow Road area – on Clifton Road, Sutherland Avenue and Westbourne Grove. Early reports from a High Street Health Survey, which was compiled by the council, indicate that this area is in decline and efforts are being made to address this.

A six-week consultation is also due to begin next month on the planned relocation of a Post Office on Poland Street in Soho to the WHSmith store at The Plaza on Oxford Street. This is one of 15 Crown Post Offices across London that are subject to a new franchise agreement with WHSmith.