Fornham All Saints Post Office to close!

10.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 1st Apr 2008

The following is my letter to the Post Office Consultation team looking at Post Office closures:

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Further to the proposal to close the above Post Office, I must ask that you think again.

This Post Office serves not just Fornham All Saints, but the villages of Fornham St Martin, Fornham St Genevieve, Hengrave, Flempton, Lackford, and West Stow.

It is one of the most northerly post offices for the rural area north of Bury St Edmunds and benefits from through traffic from Great Barton and other villages along the A143. It is fortunate in being financially viable at its current level of business.

I understand that it has been suggested to the Chair of our Parish Council that it has been suggested that our villagers could use the Lake Avenue Post Office.

This Post office does not have disabled access and is off the bus routes from the village. I understand that your organisation was under the impression that a bus service ran down Mildenhall Road. This service was discontinued some time ago. the nearest a bus service from the village comes to the Lake Avenue Post Office is the Tollgate stop. From this stop it is 885m providing the residents are able to climb the hill between the two locations. Avoiding the hill the route is 1075m.

I have to ask therefore if the information on which the decision was made to consider closing the Fornham All Saints Post Office was factually correct?

As it seems to be in error I would ask that this decision be reconsidered.

I would also point out that the Lakes Avenue Branch is a total distance of 845m from the St Olaves Post Office with a direct bus connection between them that would not require elderly residents to make any long walk.

The Lakes Avenue branch is not on any main route and is unlikely to pick up the business from the Lark Valley villagers and would seem to be a more natural choice for closure than the strategically sighted Post Office at Fornham All Saints. The proposed closure of the Barton Mills Post office will produce more business for Fornham All Saints, which is directly on the Lark Valley bus route.

Please clarify the considerations that were taken into account with regard to the Fornham All Saints closure.

Regards,

David Chappell,

Ward Councillor Fornham All Saints

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If you want to support the campaign to keep the Fornham All Saints Post Office open send an e-mail to consultation@postoffice.co.uk expressing your views. The more people who act and send in complaints the better. You have until 2nd June 08 to make your views known

If you want my help campaigning to help save 'your' post office just send me an e-mail.