Time To Deliver - Help us improve Bridgwater's post office (From Bridgwater Mercury)
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Time To Deliver - Help us improve Bridgwater's post office
11:40am Tuesday 7th February 2012 in Bridgwater Area News
TODAY the Bridgwater Mercury is calling on the people of the town to unite behind a clear message to bosses at Post Office Ltd - the temporary post office in Bridgwater is a disgrace.
For six months the people of Bridgwater have been forced to queue for their stamps and pensions in what amounts to little more than a static caravan in a featureless car park.
With bosses at Post Office Ltd preparing to start a programme of improvements to branches across the country, our message is that Bridgwater should be top of the list, so now it is TIME TO DELIVER.
Speaking exclusively to the Mercury as we launch our campaign, Bridgwater MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has branded the existing temporary office a “disgrace” and offered to hand-deliver a petition to Downing Street if required.
With major developments in Bridgwater booming, including a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point, the Morrisons depot by the M5 and, as we report this week, the arrival of a new police HQ, now is the time for Post Office Ltd to act and deliver a facility fit for our town.
SHOPPERS in Bridgwater have had enough of queuing for their post office services in a temporary building in a car park.
That was the loud and clear message from the people of the town the Mercury spoke to this week as we launch our ‘Time To Deliver’ campaign to put pressure on Post Office Ltd to find a permanent home for the service.
Post Office Ltd spokesman Mike Norman said it has not yet decided which branches will be first in line for upgrades – an announcement is expected this summer.
He said: “We are committed to providing a Post Office service for the community and we are looking for a long-term solution.”
Bridgwater MP Ian Liddell-Grainger told the Mercury: “I think it’s disgraceful that a town the size of Bridgwater, with 30,000 residents, does not have a post office.
“I have written to the chief executive of the Post Office and formally complained to the Government. It’s simply not acceptable.
“I am sick to death of being treated like a second class citizen along with my constituents in the Bridgwater area.
“It’s abominable that it should be in a caravan in a car park.”
The main post office in Bridgwater has been in the car park in Northgate since September after the branch in Angel Place Shopping Centre closed down.
Sedgemoor District Council leader Duncan McGinty said action needed to be taken to provide Bridgwater with a permanent solution.
He said: “It’s like we are in limbo because we are neither open or closed. The Post Office nationally does seem to be dragging its feet in finding a new site. I’m upset it seems to be taking so long when Bridgwater clearly deserves better than a portable building in a car park.”
Shopper Susan Durkin, who was visiting the town from Burnham, said they had a ‘proper’ Post Office there and it was ‘scandalous’ Bridgwater did not.
She said: “A proper Post Office makes a real difference and I think it’s what this town needs. For a big historic town like Bridgwater, with tens of thousands of residents living here, having a portable cabin like this is scandalous.”
To add your name to our petition, visit our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/204964429602329/ Alternatively, pop into our reception at the Royal Clarence House York Buildings in Bridgwater to sign a paper copy.
Comments(37)
ohdearithappenedagain
says...
4:15pm Tue 7 Feb 12
I'd write a letter of complaint but a.) I don't want to queue at that shack in the cold and b.) It would get lost in the sorting office, along with all my other missing mail.
sheldoncooper
says...
4:36pm Tue 7 Feb 12
BaldCarl2
says...
5:50pm Tue 7 Feb 12
They could always give their mail to ILG to hand-deliver.
Personally, I think Post Office Ltd should take the nuc-lear option and close them all down.
In this day and age, who needs a post office - apart from old codgers who love a good moan whilst waiting in the cold rain for their pension which could have been sent straight to their bank accounts.
MINIME2
says...
7:33pm Tue 7 Feb 12
RaeRae93
says...
9:54am Wed 8 Feb 12
BaldCarl2 wrote:There you go again with the generalisation and stereotyping...
What would the people of Bridg-water do without a portacabin post office to moan about. They could always give their mail to ILG to hand-deliver. Personally, I think Post Office Ltd should take the nuc-lear option and close them all down. In this day and age, who needs a post office - apart from old codgers who love a good moan whilst waiting in the cold rain for their pension which could have been sent straight to their bank accounts.
Do you not think some of us need a post office to send or return parcels that don't fit through the little gap in post boxes??
As for saying "old people love a good moan", funny that... the exact impression I get of you from all your comments on this site! We are yet to see a pleasant or positive comment, perhaps on one of the more "good news" bearing articles...
awayswing
says...
10:32am Wed 8 Feb 12
RustyKnight
says...
11:01am Wed 8 Feb 12
RaeRae93
says...
12:03pm Wed 8 Feb 12
RustyKnight wrote:My thoughts exactly!
What made me laugh about this article is the "major developments in Bridgwater booming" comment, OK so maybe there are places coming to Bridgwater for people to work but there's still hundreds of empty houses being built and no shops in the town centre.
BaldCarl2
says...
3:48pm Wed 8 Feb 12
RaeRae93 - more an observation from one of the very few times I've been into a post office. It was full of old codgers moaning. That and having to get past all the badly parked Honda Civics you see outside the post offices on pension day.
lorna doone
says...
6:41pm Wed 8 Feb 12
lorna doone
says...
6:51pm Wed 8 Feb 12
MINIME2
says...
8:03pm Wed 8 Feb 12
Puriton62
says...
10:28pm Wed 8 Feb 12
Bridgwater is not alone in suffering this problem.
Awayswing - PO Ltd entered into a business arrangement with the Bank of Ireland to offer Financial Products through the Post Office. It is not a bankrupt bank but to allay investors concerns a UK registered subsidiary was set up which gives investors full UK protection. When pension and benefit books were withdrawn due to high levals of fraud,All pension and benefit recipients had the choice of having their payments paid into their bank account or via a Post Office Card Account. All banks were obliged to offer a Basic Bank Account that could be accessed at Post Offices for customers. It is an individuals choice how their payment is made but those that no longer or rarely use the PO to access their benefit are, like others who now chose to use alternate methods of conducting their transactions, contributing to the current demise of PO's.
saunders265
says...
6:19am Thu 9 Feb 12
There is a lot of emotion surrounding this issue across the entire country, from customers, staff, and Sub Postmasters, but the essential problem is that not enough people want to transact profitable business in Post Offices. The Government is subsidising Post Office Ltd, but is it right that 'tax payers money' should be used to maintain a minority service at the expense, say, of National Health Service spending for example?
At it's peak the old Crown Office in Cornhill had 11 serving positions and employed 15 staff - and even that came under strain on a month-end Monday morning! It is clear to me that most of those customers will have found an alternative way of conducting their business, and I suggest that like it or not many of the present day customers will have to do the same.
awayswing
says...
9:23am Thu 9 Feb 12
still be worried given the Irish financial situation.Nobody likes to think that their bank is in trouble particularly the elderly.
ForSaunders265:I agree customers have gone elsewhere for what used to be PO transactions.However I think it would be a good idea to attract people back to PO counters and particularly to have a sensible sized counter in the town centre.
RaeRae93
says...
11:17am Thu 9 Feb 12
MINIME2 wrote:I've come to the conclusion he's too ignorant...
BaldCarl2 Im not sure what you mean by " my generation " you allways seem to be assuming when you write comments. Get the facts and accusations right then make your comments.
Puriton62
says...
11:21am Thu 9 Feb 12
At the moment their staff are all security checked and governed by the Official Secrets Act. They have knowledge and expertise and especially in rural areas provide service and advice above and beyond their call of duty.
Yet the public still use alternatives like PayPoint where staff are not checked or governed and transactions are not guaranteed to remain confidential and operators often only accept 'inpayments and refuse to pay out ( which will be interesting when the 'Exceptions Service i. E. 'Green Giro contract is switched to them later in the year and they will be obliged under their operating contracts to pay out quite large amounts to anyone presenting a payout document ), many also try and insist that the customer also 'spends' on something else in their premises which is also against the rules.
The problem is virtually everything the PO offers can now be done an alternate way. It is customer choice that will decide if they survive or fail as not enough viable transactions will force the operator to close. The National Estate agents Group puts an additional value if £10k on the price of a home if it has PO in it's vicinity - something to remember the next time you pay your council tax or telephone bill. If you don't use it you'll lose it and as seen in one PO window "A PO is for life not just at Xmas"
MBR Extreme
says...
1:24pm Thu 9 Feb 12
BaldCarl2 wrote:Bold carl your beginning to sound like me, pmsl.
Minime2 - you are right. By the time I reach pensionable age there will be no pensions for me. That will be because your generation squandered it.
RaeRae93 - more an observation from one of the very few times I've been into a post office. It was full of old codgers moaning. That and having to get past all the badly parked Honda Civics you see outside the post offices on pension day.
awayswing
says...
5:33pm Thu 9 Feb 12
nately the political will to introduce something radical like this will never be found in our political parties,they only seem keen on taking work away from the PostOffice to the country's detriment.
Puriton62
says...
6:33pm Thu 9 Feb 12
be split two ways rather than three as in the current Bank of Ireland partnership. Basic savings accounts are expensive to operate hence the withdrawal of them by the Government run National Savings & Investments. The previous Government decided not to go ahead with PostBank and had plenty of opportunity to grant a banking licence to the PO. The current Government has not revisited the concept but various organisations are recommending this be done. This alone will not save the Post Office but it will give a foundation to rebuild on.
saunders265
says...
8:33pm Thu 9 Feb 12
We also have for many years asked for the powers to introduce wider banking services at Post Offices, but Governments of both persuasions have not pursued this - probably due to the vested interests of the powerful banking lobby. Now it is too late - due to, of course, technology and in particular The Internet.
Insofar as The Bank Of Ireland is concerned, around three years ago the then Chief Executive of Post Office Ltd, Alan Cook, told the Select Committee for Business and Enterprise that 'the Bank would introduce a Post Office Current Account next year.' It has not happened yet, and it is not going to.
Post Offices, like many other institutions, are affected by the changes to society, economics, and politics, and whilst we may not like it the fact is that they are in terminal decline.
artful280
says...
1:34pm Fri 10 Feb 12
Puriton62
says...
1:53pm Fri 10 Feb 12
Why not ask the town or district council if they will apply for the PO franchise and supply the premises and staff it???
lorna doone
says...
3:07pm Fri 10 Feb 12
awayswing
says...
5:53pm Fri 10 Feb 12
er or stop government in its tracks.Consider the mess Lansley is in with theNHS Refom Bill.38 degrees cannot take all the credit but their massive e~petition undoubtedly frightened messrs Cameron,Clegg and Lansley.Perhaps if enough of us speak out we can our Post Offices.
saunders265
says...
8:36pm Fri 10 Feb 12
Puriton62 wrote:Nothing wrong with Post & Go machines - I think they are brilliant!
You might find a Post & Go machine in there or even a PO Local service but unless they decide to go for a 'loss leader' then retail will be more profitable for them per sq ft than using the space for a dedicated post office area.
Why not ask the town or district council if they will apply for the PO franchise and supply the premises and staff it???
RaeRae93
says...
9:31pm Fri 10 Feb 12
It wasn't until I got home, glanced at my receipt and began to chuckle when I saw the address at the top is literally: "Portakabin, Carpark, Mount St, Bridgwater, Somerset" .....
That for me kind of highlights the ridiculousness of the situation.
Puriton62
says...
9:38pm Fri 10 Feb 12
saunders265 wrote:Depends if you are salaried or paid per transaction - anything that takes work away from a sub office counter detracts from the postmasters renumeration. If an office goes into Tesco it will be on a new 'Mains' contract which is paid totally on a transactional basis. A lot of unprofitable floor space would have to be provided to accommodate units such as this which will take payment away from the franchise holder and actually cost them in terms of running costs.
Puriton62 wrote:Nothing wrong with Post & Go machines - I think they are brilliant!
You might find a Post & Go machine in there or even a PO Local service but unless they decide to go for a 'loss leader' then retail will be more profitable for them per sq ft than using the space for a dedicated post office area.
Why not ask the town or district council if they will apply for the PO franchise and supply the premises and staff it???
saunders265
says...
6:39am Sat 11 Feb 12
JOGLE08
says...
9:16am Sat 11 Feb 12
artful280 wrote:I'm pretty sure the new units are going to be run by Tesco not the council - get ready for Tesco mobile and anyone else the have as concessions in their stores so they have total control over the area and do what they can to stop people crossing Mount St to the rest of the town centre!
The post office wont find a permanent home in Bridgwater until the new Tescos is built. It will either get a corner in the store so people will shop at the same time or go into one of the new units opposite as i am sure the council will struggle to find new businesses to take them up anyway.
How about the PO going into Eastover, rent and rates would be cheap and the would benefit from having the bus station down that way. wouldn't do Eastover any harm at all! Just needs a franchisee with some b***s to take the chance
bridgyt@
says...
4:28pm Sat 11 Feb 12
the voice of common sense
says...
6:40pm Sat 11 Feb 12
sheldoncooper
says...
9:03pm Sat 11 Feb 12
the voice of common sense wrote:I think you'll find he actually added the words "if I have to"....same as on his website where it states "I will take this matter to Parliament if necessary".as if its a last resort.
Didn't fiddle granger say "I will stand up in the house and demand that Bridgwater has a permanent Post Office" in September when the postal sevices were withdrawn when the post office in Angel place closed? Which house did he mean, the one in London, the houses of parliament, the one on exmoor or the one in Scotland? We should be told!
In simple terms Mr Grainger Yes it is necessary and Yes you do have to...so just get on with it...IT'S WHAT YOU WERE ELECTED FOR !!
Puriton62
says...
12:36am Sun 12 Feb 12
Perhaps a town co operative could be set up or as previously suggested the town or district council apply to take on the service !!!
the voice of common sense
says...
8:24pm Sun 12 Feb 12
saunders265
says...
6:45am Mon 13 Feb 12
the voice of common sense wrote:Do you think it's possible that the Mr Liddle Grainger said it just so he could look good in the local paper?
No one asked Liddle Grainger to stand up and demand, he volounteered to do it. SO like sheldoncooper says, GET ON WITH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I find the idea that one obscure MP can overturn Government Policy, and economic reality, quite amusing.
And I think another exclamation mark would have reinforced the point.
sheldoncooper says...
1:29pm Tue 7 Feb 12
HOW PATRONISING !! Since when have you ever been treated like a second class citizen ? By all means put your full weight behind this and sort it out, that's what we pay you for !! We want action not soundbytes Mr Grainger !