Protest meeting to be held on Post Office closures
Jul 9 2008 By Kat Keogh
A MAJOR Post Office closures protest meeting has been organised after thousands of Birmingham Mail readers signed a petition of objection.
The meeting will be held on Monday lunchtime at Birmingham’s Council House Chamber and will give people the chance to meet the Post Office boss who has drawn up the closure plan.
It is free and doors will open at 1pm.
The meeting will feature a panel of experts who protesters will be able to question over the controversial proposal to axe 26 post offices across Birmingham.
The panel will include Post Office network development boss Mark Partington, who has drawn up the scheme to close a total of 56 Post Offices across the West Midlands.
More than 4,500 angry Mail readers have signed petition forms in the newspaper’s Think Again On Post Office Closures campaign.
And yesterday city councillors supported a motion denouncing the closure programme.
Already confirmed as taking part are Mail editor Steve Dyson, who will chair the debate, Najma Hafeez of postal services watchdog Postwatch and city historian and Mail columnist Carl Chinn.
Lib Dem councillor Ayoub Khan, cabinet member for local services, will also be there to reflect council opposition to the plans.
Post Office Ltd has said the closures are due to mounting financial losses caused by a drop in customers.
Today, Mr Dyson said: “The response we have had shows the depth of feeling and concern over this issue, particularly among our elderly readers.
“It is for that reason that the Mail has organised this debate which will bring representatives from both sides of the argument together and give readers the chance to question them in a responsible, organised debate.
“We hope to fill the council chamber on Monday and people will be admitted on a first come, first served basis.
“It should give lots of our readers to put their questions, listen to the answers and give their opinions in a sensible, business-like manner.”
The Think Again On Post Office Closures campaign demands an immediate halt to the closure programme for consultation with local community leaders, customers and councillors to take place on an individual area basis so that vulnerable people are fully considered and local neighbourhoods are not destroyed.
Post Office Ltd said people are increasingly relying on the internet for services such as television licences and car tax renewal.
Branches have lost four million customers over the past two years and the network makes a loss of £3.5 million a week.
For the past three weeks the Mail has been featuring the branches due for closure and talking to customers.
Many of the people using them are pensioners who don’t have computers and insist they don’t use on-line services. They fear that if the branches close they face long bus rides to reach alternatives ones.
The council chamber can accommodate up to 200 people. On Monday, doors will open at 1pm for a 1.30pm start. Use the main council chamber public entrance at Victoria Square, where stewards will be on hand to direct you. The debate will finish at 3pm. If you have a question to put to our panel of experts please contact reporter Jasbir Authi on 0121 234 5235, write to Birmingham Mail, Freepost 258, Birmingham B5 6BR or email newdesk@birminghammail.net
The public meeting comes during a consultation process where people have until August 4 to give their views.
