The end of the line for Cardiff's Post Offices

Written by Jenny Randerson AM and published in Cardiff Post on Thu 24th Jan 2008

This week, Post Office Ltd announced the results of their consultation into the proposed closure of 28 branches across the region, 6 of which were in Cardiff.

Sadly, the announcement contained only limited good news. While the Splott Road branch and a branch in Barry are to be saved, it still leaves many communities with the news that their branches will be shut for good.

Post Offices have long been an integral part of all communities, large and small. They not only provide many services for local people, but also provide daily social contact for many of our elderly and vulnerable neighbours. One postmaster of a threatened Cardiff branch told me that they were deeply concerned that if their branch was to close, there would be no-one to keep an eye on an elderly customer who came in every day. At the moment, if she doesn't come in one day, they would check she was OK, but if the branch closes then it will mean there will be no-one to keep an eye on her. After all, large branches in the main shopping areas can not be expected to remember every customer by name.

It is sad that the Westminster Government ordered Post Office Ltd to close thousands of branches across Britain, and it was interesting to see the reaction of many Labour MPs when their decision filtered down and closures were announced in their own constituencies.

I commend the way that Labour politicians have joined with the Liberal Democrats, other parties and community groups to campaign locally to save branches, even if they voted for the closure programme in the first place. I think that this whole sorry affair should serve as a lesson for politicians about how the decisions they make in the Westminster or Cardiff Bay 'Bubble' can affect their own communities. I am sure that when Labour MPs followed their party whip and voted for the closure programme, they probably never imagined that it may result in such suffering for their own communities and constituents. Hopefully, the next time that an issue of such importance comes before them, they will be a little more aware of the effects that their decisions will have on ordinary families and people in their own constituencies. After all, these are the people we are supposed to represent.

Now that the fight to save all of Cardiff's threatened Post Offices has been lost and the Assembly is in session again, things have returned to normal. Myself and Jenny Willott MP hold advice surgeries every Friday at 3.30pm at 99 Woodville Road, Cathays. There is no need to make an appointment, and the surgery is open to all residents of Cardiff Central.