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Leeds Post Offices fight is lost
THE fight to save dozens of post offices across Leeds has been lost – after months of talks between the city council and Royal Mail bosses broke down.
Twenty-two branches in Leeds were closed as part of a nationwide cost cutting cull of small post offices last year.
But hopes were raised when Leeds City Council started emergency discussions with Royal Mail bosses about reopening some of the branches in council-owned buildings.
The taxpayer-backed bailout scheme has already been a huge hit in Essex – where five closed branches were re-opened thanks to a 1.5m cash injection from the council.
Another five are due to open in the coming months as part of the three-year scheme – an average investment of 150,000 per branch.
The plan in Leeds was to open branches in one-stop centres and other council-linked buildings.
But the city's council leaders refused to use council tax cash to subsidise the Government closures - and the intense talks have now all but ended in deadlock.
Despite the gloom, campaigners today vowed to keep putting pressure on both council and post office bosses.
Robert Winfield, whose Beeston Forum has campaigned relentlessly on behalf of the post offices after three of the four local branches were closed, said: "There would be some support for extra council tax if it was fairly modest, to keep some office open."
He said public opinion was "overwhelmingly" in favour of some kind of reopening programme.
Thelma Parkinson, who campaigned to save her local Kirk Lane branch in Yeadon, said: "If it was 5 a year I would not mind (paying extra council tax] although we do enough council tax already."
Manny Dominguez, who co-ordinated the Leeds CAPOC (Leeds Communities Against Post Offices Closures) campaign, said: "The council should have enough money to afford spending on social need – and post offices are a social need."
Mr Dominguez and his fellow campaigners were told in a letter from joint council leaders Andrew Carter and Richard Brett their "extensive discussions" with senior staff in the Post Office had not succeeded.
However they insisted they were "maintaining a dialogue" with the Post Office.
A spokesman for Leeds City Council said: "We are not willing to pay cash or subsidise the service in any way."
A spokeswoman for Post Office Ltd said: "We are keen to work with local authorities, community or other groups with interest in funding and providing premises and staff for a Post Office branch where this would not have a detrimental impact on the existing network of branches."
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Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
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Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
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