Post Office wants to 'ruin our community for £19k'

Published on Friday 28 November 2008 09:04

ROYAL Mail bosses were today urged to scrap plans to shut a city post office after it was revealed the closure would save just £19,000.

Lothians SNP MSP Ian McKee said the saving from the proposed closure of the Oxgangs post office was "peanuts" in comparison to Royal Mail's multi-million-pound budget.

Oxgangs sub-postmaster Owen Connelly said the projected saving was dwarfed by the redundancy payment and associated costs totalling around 80,000 that Royal Mail would have to fork out if the branch shuts.

"It will cost them more to close it than keep it open," he said.

Oxgangs was added to the UK-wide post office closure hit list last month, after two other branches in the Capital were spared, but Royal Mail has admitted if Oxgangs is reprieved, it will not seek to close another post office in its place.

Dr McKee said if Oxgangs shut, nearby shops would see a dramatic drop in custom, putting jobs under threat. He said: "The post office is a lynchpin for Oxgangs Broadway. There are about 70 people employed in shops in the area, and they risk going down like dominoes if it closes.

"What tends to happen is people get their money from the post office and then go to the other shops round about.

"If people have to go to Colinton Mains to go to the post office, they will do their shopping there.

"Being prepared to ruin a local community for the sake of 19,000 is disgraceful.

"I've asked people how much they thought would be saved by closing a post office, and they have guessed 250,000. That might be a sum worth saving – but 19,000 is peanuts. It's small change for an organisation like the post office."

The savings figure was revealed in a letter to Dr McKee from Post Office managing director Alan Cook. He said it included remuneration to the sub-postmaster, systems and equipment, maintenance, delivery costs, marketing materials, security costs and savings in head office support.

The letter asked Dr McKee not to publicise the figure, because it would reveal "sensitive information about our agents' private income and business".

But Dr McKee said he had obtained permission from the Oxgangs sub-postmaster to reveal the projected savings.

Mr Connelly confirmed he was happy for the information to be released, and he said it was "farcical" to close the branch to save 19,000.

Norman Tinlin, secretary of Fairmilehead community council, said: "Compared with what is being spent on the banks, it's nothing."

A spokeswoman for Post Office Ltd said: "Financial savings are only one aspect of the network change programme. There are four million fewer customers using post offices each week than two years ago.

"Post Office Ltd is applying the UK Government access criteria to reduce the size of the network and create a sustainable long-term future for remaining branches.

"The consultation process in relation to Oxgangs post office is still on-going and no final decision has been taken on the branch."