Petition sent against
Post Office closure
Post Office Ltd. are proposing to close the local sub-post office located within the Budgens store at Wolds Drive, Keyworth. A petition signed by 486 people against the closure has been sent to Post Office Ltd., requesting them to reconsider.
Anyone can send their comments by Monday 12 November to Mark Partington, Network Development Manager, Post Office Ltd., c/o National Consultation Team, Freepost Consultation Team.
Alternatively you can e-mail consultation@postoffice.co.uk.
The following supporting comments were made in my letter accompanying the petition:
(1) Budgens and the Parade shops are a lively shopping centre serving the eastern half of Keyworth and surrounding villages, including some densely populated residential areas.
(2) The nearest alternative PO is in Main Street, Keyworth, nearly a mile away. This mile is largely uphill, rendering the journey on foot impossible for the large number of elderly people who live near Budgens, especially those in the bungalows in the Beech Avenue area. There is a bus from Wolds Drive to Keyworth centre but not on the way back, as the buses run in a one-way loop around Keyworth before returning to Nottingham.
(3) If one chooses (and is able) to drive to Main Street, it is usually very difficult to park anywhere near there, and it is normally impossible to park outside the PO (though it is usually easy to park at or near Budgens).
(4) The Main Street PO is very small and cramped, and its interior is not usable by people with wheelchairs, pushchairs, Zimmer frames or other aids to locomotion. This PO is inaccessible to disabled people because of the step at the entrance, the narrow non-self-opening door and the difficult access to a high PO counter.
(5) Many old or disabled people would lose their independence and their ability to reach a PO without external aid if the Budgens PO were to shut. Many people have said how much they appreciate a PO that is convenient for their homes and shops and is easy to access.
(6) Other people have said how easy it is to post large quantities of packages at the Budgens PO, as it is easy to transfer the packages from a car to a shopping trolley and then wheel the trolley right up to the PO counter.
(7) Retaining the sub-PO would be good for business at Budgens and the other nearby shops, as customers would tend to do as much business as possible in one place. Certainly the Parade has improved considerably in the 4 years that Budgens has been open, because of the "magnet" effect in attracting shoppers to this part of Keyworth.
(8) The Post Office are proposing to close the POs at Wolds Drive and Bunny as well as downgrading the one at Kinoulton to an "outreach solution". They are suggesting that customers could all use the Main Street PO instead. There have already been instances of customers queuing out through the door in Main Street at busy times. This PO will become impossibly busy if other POs in the catchment area are shut.
(9) The Main Street PO is open only until 17.30 each day and not on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. In contrast, the Budgens PO is open 5 days a week until 18.00 and also on Saturday mornings.
(10) We (the borough councillors for Keyworth) maintain that there is a strong case for keeping both POs in Keyworth. A settlement of this size (with its large shopping catchment area of several small villages) needs easy access to POs, and this can only be assured by keeping both the existing POs open, and indeed enhancing the access to the one in Main Street. What we need is better PO facilities than now, not worse.
