Jane Davidson writes...

Gareth Mantle, from Jane Davidson's office, kindly e-mailed me today. He sent me copies of two letters Jane has recently written regarding the proposed closure of our post office.

You can find one of them, written to Post Office Network Development Manager Steve Geraty, in full on the website entry entitled: News update (+ letter sent by Jane Davidson to Steve Geraty)

The letter you'll find on this blog entry was written by Jane, Assembly Member for Pontypridd, on December 20th and sent to Huw Roberts, Royal Mail Group, Director of Welsh Affairs, 3rd Floor, 220 Penarth Road, CARDIFF, CF11 8TA. A copy was also sent to Mr Geraty.

Here's the contents of that letter.

Dear Mr Roberts

RE: PROPOSED CLOSURE OF LLANTRISANT POST OFFICE

Thank you very much for your response to my letter dated November 28th and for your assurance that its contents will be considered by the National Consultation Team before arriving at a final decision.

In your response, you informed me of the four criteria that are being used in identifying post office branches for closure. It seems to me that two of these are particularly pertinent to the case of Llantrisant Post Office and, in addition to the issues raised in my previous letter, I will now proceed to make further representations on behalf of my constituents regarding these two criteria.

Firstly, you name one criterion as being the ‘proximity of nearby branches’, which leads me to seek confirmation as to the flexibility of such a title. Indeed, with the case of Llantrisant Post Office, it is not so much the proximity of alternative branches that will cause difficulties as it is difficulties in their access. The problem then is not that they are not close enough; rather, it is that they are not easy to get to.

To elaborate, the path to the alternative branches is not straightforward: the steepness of the hill combines with the inadequacy of the pavements to result in what may be considered a dangerous route to take, especially for elderly users. On this issue, I enquire as to the possibility of a visit to the branch so that these difficulties can be properly accounted for during the consultation period.

Secondly, regarding the criterion of the ‘financial benefit of closure to Post Office Ltd’, I include additional information of business usage for your information and also ask that this criterion not be restrained to being only retrospective.

The Model House Craft & Design Centre, which is opposite the branch, houses sixteen separate units, of which eleven are businesses. In addition to the high volume of personal usage that is generated by employees of these businesses, the businesses themselves rely on the service to sustain and grow their enterprises. Indeed, I understand from my constituents that the majority of these businesses make use of the branch on a daily basis for a variety of services including postage, banking and bills.

On top of these businesses, there are upwards of twenty other takeaways, clubs, pubs and cafes that all use the branch for the day-to-day running of their business. Statistically, there are at least fifteen organisations that use the branch for postage and for bills as well as four others who rely on the branch for their banking. Furthermore, nearby Llantrisant Business Park has forty-one businesses in operation, many of which use the branch. In particular, I understand that the large Buy as You View organisation make great use of the branch.

The usage of the branch translates into the following in monetary terms. The figures below represent transactions during the period 25/10/07 – 21/11/07.

Service/Quantity/Amount(in £’000s)

Cash Withdrawal/226/17.5
Bill Payments/804/22
Pension Payments/678/97
Business Banking/57/21.2
Phone E. Top-Up/151/1.1

Mail Type/Quantity

Special Delivery/23
Postage Labels/509
Airmail/79
Stamp Books Solo/194
Recorded Mail Sent/152
Inland Mails Sent/591
Overseas Mails Sent/88

Referring back to your criterion of the ‘financial benefit of closure to Post Office Ltd’ I would be extremely grateful if you could elaborate on the costs to the Post Office and possibly provide a target for usage whereby the branch would be sustainable. As well as this, I would be grateful if you could address my concern that prospective financial benefits are considered in addition to retrospective financial benefits.

I ask this due to the fact that the redevelopment of Llantrisant Business Park is now underway. As of August this year, the construction company Midas is starting Phase One of the Park’s regeneration strategy. The proposed extension will bring an additional twenty-four businesses to the locality of the branch, which will further increase its usage. I therefore request that this is taken into consideration in terms of the potential future gains that could accrue to Post Office Ltd. In doing so, I ask that the ‘financial benefits’ are not strictly retrospective.

Combining all of the above, I feel it an imperative that I continue to offer my support to the many residents that have contacted me concerned as to the proposals for Llantrisant Post Office. I would therefore be extremely grateful if you could address the issues that I have raised on their behalf.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,


Jane Davidson
Assembly Member for Pontypridd

cc. Steve Geraty, Network Development Manager, Post Office Ltd, c/o National Consultation Team, FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM

Jane's address: Constituency Office, Unit 10, Maritime Offices, Woodland Terrace, Maesycoed, Pontypridd, CF37 1DZ Tel: 01443 406400 Fax: 01443 406402
Email address: Jane.Davidson@wales.gov.uk