News update (+ letter sent by Jane Davidson to Steve Geraty)

Jane Davidson, Labour Assembly Member for Pontypridd, e-mailed me last night. She has kindly agreed to send me copies of all the letters she has and will write on the bid to save our post office.

The following letter was sent by Jane, to Steve Geraty, Network Development Manager, on November 28th, 2007. Many thanks to Gareth Mantle who kindly sent me a copy of this letter on January 2nd 2008

Dear Mr Geraty

RE: PROPOSED CLOSURE OF LLANTRISANT POST OFFICE

I am making representations on behalf of my constituents regarding the closure of one of the seven branches that are proposed for closure in the Pontypridd constituency.

For information, I have recently contacted all seven of the affected branches asking for evidence for their remaining open and will write to you again as soon as I receive their responses.

In the meantime I have received much correspondence from concerned constituents regarding the closure of one of the seven branches in particular. I will therefore proceed to make representations on behalf of these constituents and, in doing so, argue the case for the defence of Llantrisant Post Office. I begin with a brief background of the branch.

Llantrisant Post Office has been an important social service in the community since 1840 and in a meeting that I attended on Monday November 26th, which over 100 residents attended, I was informed of the continued popularity and use of the branch. Specifically, the branch attracts over 500 people a week and plays a major commercial role to the local art and craft businesses in an historic town.

Indeed, my constituents feel that the importance of the branch to the town has been understated and that its high usage may not have been taken into consideration when determining whether the branch should remain open. I would therefore be extremely grateful if you could confirm that the fact that Llantrisant Post Office attracts 500 users a week through its doors has indeed been noted and that it will be taken into consideration in the future.

In further developing the case for Llantrisant Post Office to remain open, I draw your attention to the first paragraph of the second page of a letter that I recently received from Eifion Pritchard, Chairman of Postwatch Wales, in which I am informed that ‘pertinent topographical features […] had been properly considered’. I argue that this has not necessarily been the case regarding the decision to close Llantrisant Post Office, as suggested by the numerous letters that have been sent to my office from concerned constituents.

My constituents inform me that although the two nearest alternative Post Office branches may appear relatively convenient on paper they are in fact most inconvenient. This is largely because of the topography of the area: the hill leading down from Llantrisant is very steep and difficult for Post Office customers, many of whom are elderly and/or disabled. Such problems of access may force some of my constituents to withdraw completely from the services of the Post Office.

In addition to the above topographical concerns, problems will remain for those fortunate enough to avoid the steep hill either by using public transport or by driving.

Regarding the use of public transport, I understand that the limitation of the current bus service does little to alleviate problems of access. There are infrequent busses to and from the proposed alternative Post Office branches and, in cases where the use of public transport may be a viable option (such as with the number 100 bus service), my constituents inform me that there is a very long walk to the corresponding bus stop.

Regarding the possibility of driving, my constituents believe that the already extremely heavy traffic of Talbot Green will be exacerbated with the closure of Llantrisant Post Office thereby undermining current levels of road safety as well as unnecessarily harming the environment. This also poses the question of the suitability of current parking facilities, which my constituents believe to be inadequate.

Indeed, there is no dedicated disabled parking facility at the Southgate Post Office and there will likely be no parking available, disabled or other, at the Talbot Green branch due to the already heavy traffic of the area. I therefore request that the viability of using the proposed alternative branches is reconsidered with respect to the availability of parking for the Southgate and Talbot Green Post Offices.

To these lines of reasoning I add the following, again making reference to the aforementioned letter from Eifion Pritchard, which claimed that the ‘impact of the local economy […] had been properly considered’. Again, I argue that this has not necessarily been the case regarding the decision to close Llantrisant Post Office due to the major commercial standing that the branch has within the locality.

My constituents inform me that with no bank or ATM machine in the locality and with no nearby shops offering a cashback service on transactions the Post Office is the only method of withdrawing money. Clearly, a significant percentage of this money is spent locally and so keeps the economy afloat.

In addition to the short-term implications for the local economy, there may also be difficulties in the long-term. This is because of the many businesses in the locality that rely on the Post Office for the successful day-to-day running of their organisation. To elaborate on this point, services such as the loss of parcel and recorded deliveries are crucial to the businesses based in the Model House as well as the many other shops and organisations in the area.

I thus find it incredibly difficult to accept the proposed closure of Llantrisant Post Office and, given its incongruence with the Llantrisant Old Town Regeneration Strategy, must insist on offering my support to defending this branch. I would therefore be extremely grateful if you could address the concerns that I have raised in this letter and I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,



Jane Davidson
Assembly Member for Pontypridd