Four Post Offices to close

Peter Swindon 1601 - 1601 • Published 5 Jun 2008 12:00 0 Comments

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The Post Office is set to close four branches in Cowdenbeath area.

Sub-post offices in Dundonald Supersave, Crosshill Costcutters, Kelty Costcutters and Dalbeath Crescent in Cowdenbeath are all under threat.

A six-week consultation period to allow the public to give views on the plans began last week.

Cardenden, Cowdenbeath, Benarty and Kelty Community Councils have vowed to fight the proposals.

Two sub-postmasters broke ranks to condemn the plans.

Farah Ahmed, who runs the Dundonald branch, said: 'I"m not happy and my customers are very angry. I"ve been quite shocked at the reaction. Elderly people are quite upset. They seem stunned. I also have pregnant woman and young mums coming here. It"s a trail for many of them to get to us, never mind walking more than a mile to Bowhill. I don"t know how they"ll cope.'

Farah, who spent thousands of pounds on her shop, now fears she"ll have to lay off staff: 'We"ve done up the shop, made it braw to fulfil the criteria set out by the Post Office. We now owe £40,000 to the bank which we"ll have to pay whether they close the post office or not.

'I"ve also got staff to think about. They"re all local girls, from Dundonald. I thought I could give them job security. I don"t want to cut staff but what choice will I have?'

Sub-postmaster Peter Sweeney took over the Dalbeath Crescent branch 16 years ago. 'It"s a body blow,' he said. 'I really wasn"t expecting it because it"s a busy, viable Post Office. We"re right in the middle of the biggest housing scheme in Cowdenbeath and a lot of people, many of them elderly, rely on us.'

The Post Office has released footfall figures for all branches facing the axe. Farah"s branch is used up to 300 times a week on average. Peter"s sub-post office, up to 500 times.

The Crosshill branch processes up to 400 customer transactions every week, the Kelty sub-post office, as many as 750.

Leader of the Labour group in Fife, Councillor Alex Rowley, who represents The Lochs ward along with Councillor Willie Clarke, issued a joint statement on behalf of both members: 'We would prefer it if these Post Offices were not flagged up for closure. There are clearly people using them and it"s going to create an inconvenience.'

Both councillors will attend a public meeting about the proposals in Glencraig this week.

Councillor Rowley added: 'The main thing now is whether people can access the alternatives. What we have to establish is whether there"s a barrier. We"re also keen to look at the demographics. We know there are a lot of elderly people use these branches. We want to hear from people who believe closures will cause them a problem. We want to examine every barrier in terms of access to the alternatives.'

Labour"s Lochgelly and Cardenden councillor, Mark Hood, also pledged to meet with the community at a public meeting to be held in Dundonald. He said: 'I will work with the community and Post Office Ltd to ensure that all options are considered before the Dundonald branch is closed.'

His Nationalist colleague, Councillor Ian Chisholm, urged concerned locals to contact watchdog, Postwatch. 'It is possible to prevent this closure. Others have had successful campaigns,' he said.

A public meeting hosted by Benarty Community Council where people can give their views will be held in Glencraig Masonic Hall on 6th June at 6 pm. Cardenden Community Council will host a meeting in Dundonald Institute on Wednesday, 18th June at 6 pm. Post Office representatives will be in attendance at both meetings. Cowdenbeath and Kelty Community Councils are in discussions about hosting similar meetings.

Sally Buchanan, Post Office Ltd's network development manager for Scotland, said: "Taking the decision to close any Post Office branch is always very difficult and we know will cause concern to many of our customers.

"We want to ensure that everyone who uses, relies on, or has any concern with Post Office services is able to give views on them."

This article appeared in Central Fife Times 05 Jun 08

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