Council bitterly disappointed as five out of six Windsor and Maidenhead post offices to close
The Royal Windsor and Maidenhead Borough has welcomed the news that Maidenhead's Bridge Road post office has been saved but is bitterly disappointed that five others will close, despite a council-led community fight to keep them in business.
The council is also very unhappy with the announcement that the South Ascot branch at Brockenhurst Road is now proposed for closure, with public consultation getting under way on May 28.
Post Offices Ltd announced its final closure decisions today (Tuesday April 8), dashing the hopes of borough councillors and residents who campaigned to save the branches at Boyne Hill, Cookham Road, Knowl Hill and Norfolk Park in Maidenhead and Springfield Road in Windsor.
Cllr David Burbage, Windsor and Maidenhead Borough council leader, said: "We are delighted that people power has persuaded the Post Office to retain Bridge Road but bitterly disappointed it has ignored the overwhelming community need for the others. Absolutely no thought has been given to the inconvenience – and in many cases hardship – that will result from these closures, particularly by older and more vulnerable members of our community."
Cllr Burbage said the council had a scheduled cross-party meeting with a Post Offices Ltd representative on Thursday (April 10) and would be drumming home the message that the closure programme was a serious mistake.
He said: "We have been trying to get a meeting with the Post Office for weeks and finally they agree to meet us – two days after the announcement. However, we will use the opportunity to remind them of the sheer folly of their ill-thought-out closure programme in the Royal Borough. We are also very unhappy with the Post Office's one-in-one-out approach. Bridge Road may have been saved but South Ascot is now under threat."
Cllr Simon Werner, leader of the opposition, said: "It is difficult to understand why the Post Office is cutting off so many of its customers, especially when so many other big businesses such as banks are realising the benefits of having easy-to-access local branches that serve their communities."
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
<< Home