Council's final fight to save Moatfield post office in Bushey (From Watford Observer)

Council's final fight to save Moatfield post office in Bushey

9:09am Wednesday 11th February 2009

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Hertsmere Borough Council has written to Secretary of State Peter Mandelson to demand the Moatfield Post Office in Bushey be kept open.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Morris Bright invited Lord Mandelson, head of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, to visit the post office in Harcourt Road to see the importance the branch, due to close today, has on local residents.

In the letter, Councillor Bright writes: "As the minister responsible for Royal Mail and whose Government has provided £1.7bn worth of subsidy to Royal Mail, I would ask that you seek a moratorium on closures arising from the current Network Change Programme while you consider the wider range of products which the Post Office can offer to the whole population.

“At a time when the Government has committed unprecedented amounts of public money in its bail-outs for banks and support for the automotive industry, your assertion that the Post Office as a ‘trusted’ business demonstrates the true worth of the network and one which should be protected rather than scaled back across the country."

The letter says the closure is at risk of going against the Disability Discrimination Act given the high proportion of elderly and disabled people in its area. There are three care homes and a special needs school around the site.

Councillor Bright also writes that the rebuild of the former Ministry of Defence estate in Harcourt Road will add 100s of homes which need the post office. He said research had found 50 per cent of households in the area have no car, 85 per cent are on benefits and the majority of household heads are single, unemployed women.

The Moatfield Branch was ordered to close last month after an extended six-month consultation. The branch was not on Post Office Ltd's original closure list but was added after branches were kept open elsewhere in Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Essex.

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