Published on June 10, 2008
in Salford.
The official closure proposals have now been published and can be found on the Post Office website.
The consultation period has now started and runs until the 21st July. Here’s how you can have your say:
By post: National Consultation Team, Post Office Ltd, FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM (no stamp required)
Online: Click here for the Online Consultation Form
By phone: 08457 22 33 44 (0845 number - careful you don’t get stung by your phone bill!)
Remember you can also sign the Salford Conservatives “Save Our Post Offices” Petition by visiting www.salfordconservatives.com/postoffices
Published on June 9, 2008
in Salford.
This afternoon I paid a visit to the Post Office on Lewis Street in Patricroft, which is one of the three Salford Post Offices that the Labour Government will tomorrow announce that they want to close down.
I visited in mid-afternoon but there was a steady stream of people coming in, and the volume of people increased further when the two nearby Primary Schools finished for the day. Indeed, it seemed far too busy to be a prime candidate for closure.
I spoke to a number of local residents who were all in agreement about the importance of the Post Office to the local community in Patricroft. There was shock and anger at the closure proposals. They will all have the opportunity to have their say in the forthcoming consultation - more details on that tomorrow after the official announcement.
Salford Conservatives have today launched a petition against Labour’s Post Office closure proposals. There’s also a Facebook group if, like me, you are a member on that site.
Published on June 8, 2008
in Salford.
If the press reports are correct, tomorrow the Transport Secretary (and Bolton MP) Ruth Kelly will announce that Greater Manchester will be allowed to borrow a huge sum of money to invest in local public transport - on the strict condition that the money is repaid via the introduction of a congestion charge.
Now of course things are never this black-and-white, but I suspect that are three broad strands of public opinion on the TIF congestion charge proposals:
- Those who support congestion charging in principle (a small group)
- Those for whom congestion charging will never wash regardless of the deal on the table (a larger group)
- Those who will look at the deal on the table and make their made up (the largest group)
Now we will hopefully see the final details tomorrow (although David Ottewell isn’t so sure we will get the whole truth and nothing but the truth) but for local residents in Salford who fall into the third group - from Kersal to Cadishead and Langworthy to Little Hulton - the decision is likely to be a complete no-brainer.
Salford residents will feel the full force of the costs of the TIF scheme - a £5 a day tax on commuting if implemented at today’s prices and likely to rise through the roof once rising costs are taken into account - and will have a multi-billion pound debt hanging over their heads for the next three decades at least.
However, if the draft plans are anything to go by, the benefits are few and far between no matter where in Salford you reside. No improvements to local rail services serving Swinton, Walkden, Eccles and Irlam. A vague promise of more bus - but no powers for GMPTE to control where those buses go. The Leigh Guided Busway which will increase congestion but will not provide any local communities in Salford with an improved service.
Our Labour Government and Labour Council are asking us as local residents to back a scheme with a huge cost and few discernable benefits. We will not be fooled by Labour’s TIF pyramid scheme.
I’ve just upgraded to the latest version of WordPress. Everything seems to be working swimmingly but if you encounter any problems or errors whilst browsing the site please do leave a comment to let me know!
Normally you wouldn’t expect the Manchester Evening News to splash big stories across their Saturday edition, but today there are two very big stories for local residents in Salford:
I’ll be commenting in more detail on both stories later today tomorrow.
New Mayor of London Boris Johnson has today resigned as MP for his Henley constituency, and the by-election train that last stopped at Crewe & Nantwich will now move on from South Cheshire to South Oxfordshire. The Conservative candidate is local Councillor John Howell who I know has the experience and local knowledge to become a fantastic Member of Parliament for Henley, Thame and South Oxfordshire.
One interesting and non-partisan new element to this by-election is the decision made by the Chief Executive of South Oxfordshire Council, who is the Acting Returning Officer for the Parliamentary by-election, to set up a blog to inform local residents about the by-election procedure. This is a very welcome development and I hope it proves successful.
Published on June 4, 2008
in Walkden.
Upcoming neighbourhood police surgeries, for the information of local residents:
James Brindley Primary School, Parr Fold Avenue (3.15-4.15pm)
Wednesday 4th June 2008
Wednesday 9th July 2008
Fit City Worsley (Worsley Pool), Bridgewater Road (3-4pm)
Tuesday 8th July 2008
Tuesday 12th August 2008
Thursday 11th September 2008
Tuesday 7th October 2008
Walkden Library, Memorial Road (3-4pm)
Tuesday 10th June 2008
Tuesday 15th July 2008
Wednesday 6th August 2008
Tuesday 2nd September 2008
Salford Post Office Closures
So, if the press leak is accurate, the official announcement on Tuesday of the next stage of Post Office “reform” will see the Labour Government proposing the closure of three Post Offices in Salford:
The Government report says that “deprived areas will be safeguarded against closures”, but it is easy to see from the list above that this is nothing more than spin. None of the three Post Offices facing the axe in Salford could possibly be described as being in affluent suburbia. Indeed, the Langworthy Road Post Office is at the heart of a key regeneration area.
I do not support the Government’s proposals to axe these Post Offices and I know that Conservatives both here in Salford and in Westminster are committing to protecting the services that local Post Offices provide for their communities. Indeed the Conservative Post Office Action Plan is worth reprinting in full:
Freeing up Sub-Postmasters - We will rewrite Sub-Postmasters’ contracts, allowing them to provide a greater range of products and services, including private mail services.
Using Post Offices as Government GP service - We will investigate a scheme whereby people who have concerns about a range of Government services, such as tax returns and pension entitlements, can use their local Post Office as a kind of ‘Government GP’.
Campaigning on the Post Office Card Account - This scheme is hugely important to those people who do not have bank accounts and around one million of our most vulnerable people cannot get a bank account.
Encouraging ‘Council Counters’ - We will encourage local councils to see what services they could provide though Post Offices and whether they could use the Post Office network in their area to better engage with local residents.
I firmly believe that genuine support from both Government and local Councils will render these damaging closures entirely unnecessary.