Published: Wednesday, 28th May, 2008 12:00
Axe falls on two county post offices
By Jamie MacDonald
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Muckhart Post Office faces closure.
Pic by: Jan van der Merwe
TWO Post Offices in Clackmannanshire have been earmarked for closure in the latest round of cuts to the network.
The final post could soon be given at the Post Offices in Muckhart and Fairyburn in Alloa.
Final closure is expected to be in September and after that nearby residents will have to travel to Dollar and Alloa town centre to reach their nearest Post Offices.
The part-time Muckhart Post Office will be replaced by a mobile service visiting the village at certain times twice a week, but there are no such plans for Fairyburn – users are expected to travel the extra mile to Alloa’s Drysdale Street.
Both postmasters were unwilling to discuss the closures, but the Advertiser understands that Muckhart averages 62 users a week and Fairyburn averages under 400.
The cuts are part of a drive by the British Government to close 2500 Post Offices nationally.
Emma Binnie, from Muckhart uses the Post Office for withdrawing money, paying council tax and sending letters and parcels.
She said, “It will be a bit of a nightmare if you have no transport. There are a lot of elderly people here and it will be a shame for them to lose it.
“Out here in winter we can get cut off so there could really be problems then.”
Muckhart falls in the ward of Councillor Alastair Campbell who was disappointed with the news, but keen to find out exactly how the new mobile service would work.
Mr Campbell said, “It all depends on the alternative arrangements that are made with the mobile service.
“A lot will rest on the support it receives and we will have to make the best of a not particularly good situation.”
The Post Office owners themselves have other jobs to fall back on. The owner of Muckhart Post Office has an adjacent tea room and shop, while Fairyburn Post Office is situated inside a corner shop.
Cathy Eadie, from Alloa, uses the Fairyburn Post Office every week but due to problems with her sight, she does not expect to be able to make the trip into the Post Office in Alloa town centre on a regular basis.
She said, “It’s bad news for me. It was good to get out of the house to get my pension and stamps and things like that, but now I will have to ask my family or friends to go into town for me – I’ll lose a bit of my independence.”
MSP for Ochil Keith Brown is urging locals to involve themselves in the public consultation which will last until 8 July.
Mr Brown said, “I think it is a disgrace. Both Post Offices provide a vital service and I would encourage everyone to get involved in the process.
“Every individual who writes to the Post Office will help raise a case against closure.
“I plan to work in every way possible with the local communities in the areas affected.
“Nobody can understand why they are closing down services which are of massive benefit to the community.”
He added, “The Royal Mail Group’s operating profits in the last year were reported as £162m, and their Chief Executive is being paid £3m – £2m of which is actually a performance-related bonus!
“I can only assume his job description is to run down local post office services to the point where they are no longer deemed ‘viable’ so that closure can be presented as the only option.”
The Post Office has stated that the public consultation will not change the decision on the offices to be shut, but it will provide locals with the chance to communicate their opinions to help shape the future service they receive.
In Muckhart it could affect the time the mobile service arrives in the village and the services it will include.
Local MP Gordon Banks believes Clackmannanshire has done as well as could be expected from the closure programme.
In recent weeks he has contacted all sub-postmasters in Clackmannanshire offering to meet them to discuss their situation – but he said that neither the Muckhart or Fairyburn postmasters wished to have a meeting.
Mr Banks said, “Clackmannanshire has retained the lion’s share of its Post Offices.
“The network needs something to be done, some local post masters have said to me they only make seven to eight transactions a day.
“There is a good bus service that takes people from Fairyburn to the town centre and I have heard that in other areas the mobile service has become very popular, even when it was not warmly welcomed initially.”
He added, “For the postal service itself what is needed is extra funding from elsewhere.
“I tried to encourage the possibility of discussing new additional funding with other people but haven’t been taken up on the offer.”
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