MP backs residents' idea for saving local Post Office

22.10.02

Davey urges Post Office to look at South Lane "mutual" plan

Edward Davey, Lib Dem MP for Kingston and Surbiton, has backed local residents who are angry at the decision to force the closure of the South Lane Post Office and he has written again to senior Post Office managers urging them to look at new ideas raised by community campaigners for saving the South Lane post office.

Local campaigners discussed with Mr Davey their idea of forming a "mutual" or a "co-operative" with other local residents in a bid to save South Lane, when the MP visited the South Lane post office last week. Local campaigners believe they could find a large number of local people willing to contribute small amounts, so that with some official Post Office backing this key community asset would be saved.

Edward Davey has agreed to help out to see what local support there is for the idea and to ask the Post Office for their reaction.

Edward Davey said:

"I remain convinced that the wrong decision has been made and am glad that local residents are not giving up on their post office.

"Friday's public meeting will help us "test out" local residents' ideas for saving the post office.

"I've been impressed how imaginative local people have been in their determination to save their local post office. The idea of a community mutual or co-operative is certainly worth exploring with other residents and the Post Office.

"Obviously, we'd all prefer it if the Post Office re-considered their original decision. I remain concerned at the way this process has been handled and at how the reasons for closure given by the Post Office seem to change from week to week. Their credibility is shot through.

"I'm hoping a big turnout at this Friday's public meeting will show the Post Office we mean business."


Letter to Post Office Ltd

Drew McBride
Head of Area
Post Office Ltd
Brockbourne House
77 Mount Ephraim
Tunbridge Wells
Kent TN4 8AB

22nd October 2002

re: South Lane Post Office

As you will have guessed from what I told you at our meeting at the House of Commons on 16th September, I was extremely disappointed to receive your letter informing me that you intend to go ahead with the closure of the post office on South Lane New Malden. I am writing now both to repeat in the strongest possible terms my opposition to this proposal and to ask a number of questions.

1. Options for appeal
I would be grateful if you could set out in detail what options remain open to myself and to local residents for appealing against this decision. Is the only option a judicial review, or are there other alternatives? Naturally I will be asking this of others, but I would welcome your comments.

2. Grounds for closure
I am concerned that the reasons for this closure appear to have changed during this process. I would therefore like you to repeat, for the record, what is your reason for closing this post office. Moreover, I would be grateful if you could set out, for the record, what have been the published reasons for your wish to close this post office at each stage of the process, beginning with the initial consultation.

3. Consistency with the Code of Practice
I am led to believe that the reasons you have given for closing the post office on South Lane are not allowed for in the Post Office's own Code of Practice. Will you explain this apparent inconsistency, and explain both the relevance and importance of the Code of Practice in this case. If your reasons are inconsistent with the Code, as we suspect, can you explain what the Code if there for?

4. Options for a community-sponsored "mutual" post office
Having met with residents at South Lane post office, they have come up with the interesting idea of forming a sort of "mutual" or "co-operative" to help fund and/or run the post office outlet at South Lane.

If enough local residents agree, this could both meet your objectives and maintain a valued local public service. Moreover, by maintaining the post office, this proposals could have much wider benefits, as the post office plays a key role in sustaining important local businesses in this small parade on South Lane.

The "mutual" idea
While this proposal will be fleshed out by some of the residents keen to push it, and while it remains very much a "second best" solution after our preferred option of keeping the post office as is, the "mutual" idea has 2 possible forms:

· financial contribution
One option suggested would be for a number of residents to make a small financial contribution into a fund to pay for the salary and on-costs of a sub-postmaster or sub-postmistress.

Some residents believe that local people would be prepared to pay a small weekly sum just for the convenience of maintaining this local service and to save them the problems and costs of going to other post offices in the area. If sufficient people could be found willing to pay a sufficiently high fee, it is possible sufficient funds could be obtained. This would assist the Post Office find the cost savings they are obviously keen to make in proposing this closure in the first place. The size of the cost savings would depend on whether or not the Post Office was prepared itself to make any financial contribution.

· volunteer staffing
A second option that has only been briefly discussed is the option of the post office being staffed by volunteers. This idea is not been developed currently because we believe you would "veto" for reasons such as security, employment law and health and safety. However, such issues were raised when the idea of volunteers staffing New Malden's police station was first proposed, and the Metropolitan Police Service worked with local people to see if such issues could be tackled, which they were. Therefore, at this juncture, I simply wanted to get your reaction to this idea, to see what your attitude to it was, before local residents tried to see whether it was practical from their standpoint.

With respect to both these options and the general idea, would you be prepared to consider something along these lines? Is there any room in your department for creative thinking along these lines? Could such a solution be put to the Chief Executive of your business to obtain his reaction?

There is a public meeting on this matter on Friday and I hope myself to gauge wider public reaction to these ideas. If it is positive, I will certainly wish to take these ideas higher, but I would ask for your comments beforehand, if at all possible.

I would welcome your response to this letter at your earliest convenience, and thank you in advance for whatever assistance you can provide for this local community in my constituency.

Yours sincerely,


Edward Davey MP
(Kingston and Surbiton)