 Responding to yesterday’s news that two post offices are marked for closure Wendy Morton, Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Tynemouth, has stepped up her campaign to make sure the views of local people are heard.
The post office consultation period for Tyneside started on Tuesday and is part of a six week process that will see 2,500 local branches closing nationwide. In the Tynemouth constituency the two post offices that have been earmarked are Wilton Drive and Front Street, Monkseaton and Wendy made a point of revisiting both branches on Tuesday. At Monkseaton Front Street there is a genuine concern that elderly people will not be able to easily access the post office services if it shuts, and Wendy is asking local people to let her know their views about this closure.
Speaking after her visits to the post offices Wendy said:
‘I totally disagree with the way this consultation has been carried out. The Post Office has already decided that 2,500 branches will shut nationally and there is little, if any, room for negotiation. This is a sham consultation and the closures will affect hundreds of communities up and down the country. The Government seems happy to sit back while the post office service disintegrates.’
‘It is really important that local people have their say about the proposed closures and I want to hear their views so that I can lobby the Government of their behalf.’
‘In order to ensure the survival of local post offices, we have launched our Post Office Plan which aims to encourage local councils to consider opening ‘council counters’, to give sub post offices greater freedom to offer commercial products and for more post offices to be ‘one stop shops’ for central government services. We need to think imaginatively about how we maintain good local services – the Government just seems to have given up.’
Constituents can send their views on the post office closures to Wendy via the CONTACT page on her website – www.wendy4tynemouth.com or alternatively write to Wendy at 5 Albion Road, North Shields NE30 2RJ
2nd July 2008 | 
