'Save Our Post Offices' petition website launched
25 February 2008A CAMPAIGN group fighting to secure the long-term future of vital community post offices across Bristol and South Gloucestershire has gathered momentum.
The group, headed by six local activists - Charlotte Leslie, Jack Lopresti, Chris Skidmore, Adeela Shafi, Mark Lloyd Davies and Nick Yarker - has launched an online petition against Government plans to close 14 post
offices across the area.
The local closures, part of the Labour Government's proposals to axe thousands of post office branches across the country - were outlined on
Friday, although the official announcement will not be made until Tuesday.
In response, the activists, who are all also Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidates in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, have today launched an online petition against the service cuts.
The petition, found by visiting www.savepostoffices.com allows concerned residents to add their weight to the campaign against the swingeing cuts by registering their support online. There is also a facility allowing supporters of the campaign to leave comments specifying why their local post office should not close.
The site also outlines Conservative's plans to give Sub-Post Offices more freedom to offer a wider range of business services, push for more post offices to be 'One Stop Shops' and to allow the Post Office to work with carriers other than the Royal Mail , among others.
Once collated, the petition will be delivered to the Post Office ltd to highlight the growing level of local anger against the controversial plans.
Speaking ahead of the launch Charlotte Leslie, the candidate for Bristol North West said: "Those under threat in Bristol North West - Wellington Hill West and Middleton Road post offices - are at the heart of their communities.
"It is outrageous that they should be listed for closure. These plans have been made with no regard for the local community -and it will be the elderly and disabled who are hardest hit.
"Furthermore, when a post office goes, local businesses often follow, and the area can become a ghost town. We cannot let this happen."
Chris Skidmore, the Parliamentary Candidate for Kingswood said: "Two of the post offices earmarked for closure- Bitton and Hill Street in Kingswood are crucial services for those who live nearby.
"If the post office in Bitton closes, elderly people will have to travel miles to the nearest service in Oldland. We can't sit back and allow this to happen.
"That's why we have launched our campaign to save our local post offices."
Since 1997, Labour has closed 5,000 post offices across the country, including 38 in Bristol and South Gloucestershire - including one-in-four post offices in Bristol North West and Kingswood.
To sign the petition, please visit www.savepostoffices.com