Chiswick Post Offices Face Extinction

Four more face the axe with the Royal Mail accused of a campaign of closure by stealth

Chiswick's sub-post offices are close to extinction as news emerges of yet more planned closures. No less than four local post offices are shutting down on top of two that have closed recently.

Mr Lad, the popular sub-postmaster on Bedford Corner, is planning to close his Post Office Counter for personal rather than financial reasons. This comes on the back of the closure this July of the counter on Southfield Road leaving many elderly people in the area with a long trek to the main office on the High Road.

The Acton Green Post Office in Acton Lane is to be closed in January. The 'Proposed Branch Closure' leaflet suggests using either the main Chiswick post office or ones in Acton.

The post office on Sutton Lane (near the AFN garage) is also being proposed for closure. If you wish to make a comment on this you need to write to the following address by the 11th November:

Drew McBride
Head of Area
Post Office ltd
National Consultation Team
PO Box 2060
Watford WD18 8ZW

If all the closures go ahead there will be just one sub-post office in Chiswick north of the A4 (near Sainsbury's local). People are concerned that the main post office on Heathfield Terrace is already over-stretched with long queues most days of the week. Historically, the main branch has also had serious problems with theft.

Although there is supposed to be a consultation with local residents on these closures there has been little publicity about them with many people feeling that the Post Office are attempting to carry out the exercise by stealth.

A £210 million compensation and investment package was agreed by Parliament for urban Post Office branches last year. This was supposed to be used to restructure and modernise the network of around 9,000 branches in towns and cities but in Chiswick it seems to be solely funding closures.

The government has changed the payments system so that many pensioners and other benefit claimants will no longer able to receive payments in cash at their post office. The alternative system of bank accounts or the Post Office Card Accounts have left many confused as to how to receive their regular benefit payments.

Of the 17,000 Post Offices in England, the overwhelming majority of outlets are sub-post offices run by private businessmen and women. It is the largest retail network in the country. Benefit payments account for 35 per cent of a sub-post office’s business. Upon the change to ACT benefit payments, this revenue will be lost.

October 23, 2003