Council Calls For 6 Week Extension To Post Office Consultation

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errors discovered in the information provided to support the cutbacks

In many cases the journey time quoted for people travelling to the nearest surviving branch is quicker than is normally possible.

In one example users are offered two alternatives to the branch at 258 Balham High Road which is threatened with closure. They can choose the post office at 63-65 Upper Tooting Road, which is described as a ten-minute bus journey, or 92a Balham High Road, which is a five-minute trip.

However the Transport for London route planner estimates journey times as 17 and 18 minutes respectively including walking times.

The post office at St John's Road is listed as the nearest alternative to the threatened branch at 318 Trinity Rd – but the distance by car quoted (0.09 miles) is incorrect and should be 1.05 miles.

Users of the branch at 268 Battersea Park Road are told they will have bus trips of two or 20 minutes to alternative branches at 583 Battersea Park Road and 202 Lavender Hill. The TfL planner estimates these journey times as 11 and 27 minutes respectively.

The nearest alternatives to 179 Garratt Lane are listed as 1 Arndale Walk and 591 Garratt Lane. These are said to be a seven and eight minute bus trip. But the TfL route planner puts them both at 16 minutes including walking.

Customers of 279 Putney Bridge Road are given the option of seven or ten-minute bus trips to alternative branches at 214 Upper Richmond Road and 315 New Kings Road. These are estimated at 18 and 22 minutes by the route planner.

Deputy council leader Maurice Heaster said, "These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. In every case the Post Office has supplied inadequate or misleading information about the branch affected.

"We do not think measuring routes from the threatened branch is the right way to do this. The routes from the branch proposed for closure to the nearest alternatives are not those that customers would take.

"It would be more meaningful to compare distances for residents to their nearest branch both before and after the planned closures. This would give us an average increase in travel times.  There are so many errors that the Post Office must reissue the consultation document and allow more time for consultation."

Eight local branches have been earmarked for closure under the latest phase of the programme for slimming the national network. A ninth local branch - at 43 Northcote Road, which closed without notice in 2006 - will not now reopen.

The list within the borough comprises 258 Balham High Road; 268 Battersea Park Road; 179 Garratt Lane; 209 Lower Richmond Road; 274 Mitcham Lane; New Covent Garden Market; 279 Putney Bridge Road; 318 Trinity Road.

If the current closures go ahead it will mean half the borough network will have closed since 2003.

The consultation ran for a six-week period closing on April 2. The council now wants a six-week extension to follow publication of corrected information on alternatives for customers of threatened branches. A 12-week period is normally considered the minimum for Government consultations.

For more information visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/postoffices

April 8, 2008