Post office bosses have thwarted customers’ hopes that a busy branch in Hove would be reopened.
The news came in a letter from Post Office Ltd which said that the company was “unable to restore a service locally” after the closure of the branch in Western Road, Hove.
It follows a decision in 2015 to close the “crown post office” branch there – next to City Books – on the ground that it was “no longer commercially sustainable”.
The two Green councillors for Brunswick and Adelaide ward in Hove said that – despite a petition signed by more than 5,000 people – the crown post office closed in 2016.
Little more than a year later, the Post Office opened a new branch in a newsagent just a few doors away but this closed last year.
Hannah Clare and Phélim Mac Cafferty have since spoken out about the continued absence of a post office for the area.
They said that the latest letter from post office bosses was “another blow to our community” and pledged to continue to campaign for the return of a service.
Councillor Mac Cafferty said: “We have been troubled by the lack of communication from the Post Office to both councillors and residents and this announcement comes as yet another blow to the community.
“This is but the latest saga in the appalling treatment of the community from Post Office Ltd.
“In 2016, Post Office Ltd made the penny-pinching decision to close the well-used and much-loved crown post office, with a fake argument that there was no market for a post office and the fantasy that Churchill Square would take the slack.
“Green councillors alongside the community always maintained the post office was viable but that was rubbished.
“Then in 2018, the post office was brought back literally a few yards from where it was.
“Then in May last year they decided to close it again.
“Despite this further disappointment, Green councillors will continue to campaign for local services to remain in our area.”
Councillor Clare said: “The last few months have shown how important it is to have local services, like post offices, that are accessible to all members of the community.
“In light of the pandemic, residents have hugely valued local shops and services, and we have to do all we can to continue to fight for our local shopping areas, like that in Brunswick Town.
“Even though the most recent branch was no little match for a crown post office in terms of the services it provided, it still provided a vital community asset that is thoroughly missed.
“It is a shame that the Post Office has essentially abandoned all hope of Brunswick residents having an effective post office return to the area.”
there is one further west along that road about 2 1/2 bus-stops : the bus stops right outside. It is a shame one tried to start again in 2018 and closed in May 2019: what closed it? Post Office Ltd. or the leaseholder? Why did the “Brunswick residents” not support it enough?
the local cllrs should move on and stop using Covid as an excuse to subsidise commercially unsustainable shops.
The privatisation of the Post Office has been a disaster for everyone except the directors. Last Wednesday I posted a birthday card to my sister who lives in London. I put it in the box a clear two hours before the last posting time and it did not arrive until yesterday (Monday)
The sooner the Post Office is brought back into public ownership the better.
That scenario has nothing to do with the Post Office, it is Royal Mail that empty the Postbox, and Royal Mail who deliver the Mail. PO and Royal Mail are separate companies now and have been for a number of years. PO is still publicly owned