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Post office closures finalised

10:34am Tuesday 6th May 2008

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Post Office Ltd has announced the closure of 22 post office branches across Oxfordshire.

The closure announcement - which was made at 10am - confirmed all 22 branches on the hit-list would close.

The closures came despite an Oxford Mail campaign to save the branches, which included a 6,000-signature petition handed into Downing Street.

During a six-week local public consultation, Post Office Ltd received about 3,700 responses and attended 35 meetings with customers and their representatives.

The branches on the list are:

  • Ardington Stores, High Street, Ardington, near Wantage
  • Woodstock Road East, Begbroke, Kidlington
  • Childrey, High Street, Childrey, near Wantage
  • Park Road, Combe, near Witney
  • The Street, Crowmarsh Gifford, near Wallingford
  • The Amigo Shop, Cholswell Road, Abingdon
  • Oxford Road, Farmoor, Oxford
  • Main Road, Fyfield, Abingdon
  • Abingdon Road, Oxford
  • Middleton Road, Grimsbury, Banbury
  • Church Way, Iffley, Oxford
  • Villiers Road, Bicester
  • High Street, Long Wittenham,
  • Orchard Way, Banbury
  • Stanmore Crescent, Carterton,
  • Middle Road, Stanton St John, Oxford
  • Stream Road, Upton
  • West End, Witney
  • Godstow Road, Wolvercote
  • Wootton Road, Abingdon
  • Woodstock, Oxford
  • Wytham, Oxford

The following branches will be replaced by what Post Office Ltd has called "outreach solutions". Details of exactly what this will mean and how the service will be provided are still being finalised.

  • Horseshoe Lane, Chadlington,
  • The Green, Enstone,
  • Great Rollright, Chipping Norton
  • The Green, Great Tew
  • Tackley Village Shop, Medcroft Road, Tackley, near Kidlington.

Mark Partington, Post Office Ltd's Network Development Manager for Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, said: "These are difficult decisions which have not been taken lightly. "We have considered very carefully all the comments made during the public consultation.

"We believe that the amended plan announced today offers our customers across Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire the best prospect for a sustainable network in the future, bearing in mind the Government's minimum access criteria and the other factors it has asked us to consider."

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Your Say YourOxford Mail

L, Oxford says...
11:27am Tue 6 May 08

I suppose they have a plan for the St Aldates office then. The queue is constantly out the doors with a majority of misbehaving and smelly tramps who are after their benefits. Can they at least give the tramps their drinking vouchers someplace else?

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alan page, says...
11:35am Tue 6 May 08

Ah, the joys of private ownership eh?

Profits before people everytime.

Anybody who believes this is not simply cost cutting/downsizing is naive in the extreme.

Don't kid yourselves,it would have happened anyway no matter who was in No.10.

Directors swimming pools are very expensive to heat.


Report this post »

Neil, Oxford says...
11:36am Tue 6 May 08

So much for Andrew Smith MP's influence then.

And lucky for him they held this announcement over until after polling day!

The sooner we get rid of him the better.

Report this post »

Phil Gale, Oxford says...
11:48am Tue 6 May 08

Senior management at the Post Office have a lot to answer for: they haven't moved with the times. With the growth of online shopping, they could have run a brilliant network of local collection points for parcels, for example, but instead they've let local post offices be sidelined.

They've also been hamstrung by central Government, and EU regulations making things like TV licensing have to go to competitive tender.

with fewer and fewer services on offer, it's little wonder that eventually they stop being viable, to the detriment, as ever, of the most vulnerable in society.

Mind you, this has been happening in rural communities for years and years: maybe now it's reaching the cities, people will take notice. But I fear it's too late.

Report this post »

DanOxford, says...
1:26pm Tue 6 May 08

Neil wrote:
So much for Andrew Smith MP\'s influence then. And lucky for him they held this announcement over until after polling day! The sooner we get rid of him the better.
Andrew Smith DID influence the closures- he voted FOR the closure plans with the government.

Here's his voting record:

How Andrew Smith voted on key issues since 2001:

Has never voted on a transparent Parliament.

Voted moderately for introducing a smoking ban.

Voted strongly for introducing ID cards.

Voted very strongly for introducing foundation hospitals.

Voted strongly for introducing student top-up fees.

Voted strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws.

Voted very strongly for the Iraq war.

Voted very strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war.

Voted very strongly against replacing Trident.

Voted very strongly for the hunting ban.

Voted very strongly for equal gay rights.

http://www.theyworkf

oryou.com/mp/andrew_

smith/oxford_east#vo

tingrecord

So he was in favour of the Iraq war, voted to go against Nulabour's promise NOT to introduce student fees (thus deterring people from poor background from going to University, ie his own constituency)

He also campaigned for CCTV on Cowley Road (see the report today saying how CCTV was a huge waste of money Nationally?)and wants us all to carry ID cards.

Andrew Smith has NEVER voted against his party, is ranked 150th (out of 645) for MP's expense and employs his wife, who also stood for recent elections.

Waste of space and money? Well someone must have voted him in...

Report this post »

DanOxford, says...
1:29pm Tue 6 May 08

Neil wrote:
So much for Andrew Smith MP's influence then. And lucky for him they held this announcement over until after polling day! The sooner we get rid of him the better.
Andrew Smith DID influence the closures- he voted FOR the closure plans with the government.

Here's his voting record:

How Andrew Smith voted on key issues since 2001:

Has never voted on a transparent Parliament.

Voted moderately for introducing a smoking ban.

Voted strongly for introducing ID cards.

Voted very strongly for introducing foundation hospitals.

Voted strongly for introducing student top-up fees.

Voted strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws.

Voted very strongly for the Iraq war.

Voted very strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war.

Voted very strongly against replacing Trident.

Voted very strongly for the hunting ban.

Voted very strongly for equal gay rights.

http://www.theyworkf

oryou.com/mp/andrew_

smith/oxford_east#vo

tingrecord

So he was in favour of the Iraq war, voted to go against Nulabour's promise NOT to introduce student fees (thus deterring people from poor background from going to University, ie his own constituency)

He also campaigned for CCTV on Cowley Road (see the report today saying how CCTV was a huge waste of money Nationally?)and wants us all to carry ID cards.

Andrew Smith has NEVER voted against his party, is ranked 150th (out of 645) for MP's expense and employs his wife, who also stood for recent elections.

Waste of space and money? Well someone must have voted him in...

Report this post »

Tony Brett, Oxford says...
1:31pm Tue 6 May 08

Privatising/deregula
ting things that are provided for the public good rather than just for profit rarely works:

Railways
Buses
Post Offices
Telecom
London Underground

Will the government ever learn? The Tories started it and now NuLabour has continued it with PFI and other such terrible schemes.

I think I might vote LibDem next time :-)

Report this post »

Abadonian, Abingdon says...
2:46pm Tue 6 May 08

They just dont want OAP's to go out anymore. They tell them they have to have their pensions paid into their bank accounts then they close the Post Offices. OAP's dont have internet access as they are too scared to go online but if they did I bet they would have a petition on Facebook.

Report this post »

DAVE, thame says...
6:47pm Tue 6 May 08

ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE OF THIS ANTE-ENGLISH GOVERNMENT

Report this post »

dadshedz, London says...
9:11am Wed 7 May 08

No hope for us then!
3700 responses, 35 meetings but Post Office Ltd changed nothing, they didn't even bother to refer to the local campaigns in their decision announcement, arrogance in the extreme, why have a sham consultation, why waste peoples precious time thinking they might be listened to, PO Ltd and Postwatch are deaf and blind,stop this insincere phoney process now, admit there is nothing that will change your minds, proving how innacurate your Branch Access Reports are, the unfair uneven spread of closures, the lack of consultation with alternative offices forced to take on the extra business, or the hidden closures of the outreach alternatives and replacement with offices available for just a few hours a week, perhaps they should look up the english meaning of consultation "seek information or advice" neither are of interest to them.

Report this post »

Anon, Oxford says...
5:40pm Wed 7 May 08

It's not true that Andrew Smith has NEVER voted against his party, just not in this parliament. He rebelled against Trident in 2007.

Report this post »

Rose, says...
7:41am Thu 8 May 08

I think companies like UPS and DHL and fed Ex all should allow the average joe to use their services. Here in the States anyone can use these services, NOT just bussinesses. The Royal Mail needs competition. I try very hard NOT to use the United States Post office, the service is terrible and the prices outragous for shoddy services. I would rather pay the same or a little more for UPS or fed Ex and even DHL than to have it lost by the P.O.You just can't beat the private bussinesses to get the job done right !Its a shame they don't offer letter type mail, I would use that too.My mother in Oxford sent a care parcel last year, and paid an outrageous price to send it air mail, I received the lid of the box, with a statement saying " received in this condition" it arrived in Texas NOT Ca where I live, the contents were eaten by postal workers at this end !!how disgusting is that. I read stories and hear from relations in Oxford that mail is found along the road side, dumped by British Postal workers. Its time someone took charge and offered a service to be proud of, but they way things are going I don't see it ever changing for the better.

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