Bromsgrove Crown Post Office, High Street, Bromsgrove is scheduled for closure. It will be replaced by a franchised branch in an alternative location on the High Street.

Bromsgrove High Street Improvement Forum object to the proposed closure and wish the Post Office Transformation Team to remove this office from their scheduled list of closures. We believe that this closure will be detrimental to the town centre and people of Bromsgrove for the following reasons:

1. The Post Office is a prominent building situated in the newly redeveloped events area of the town centre and, as such, represents an attractive landmark that traditionally acts as both a reference point and community focus at that end of town. In the current economic climate of high rents and business rates, it is likely that the building will be neglected and fall into disrepair, seriously detracting from the positive work that has been undertaken by the local council to improve this area.

2. This branch is always busy. The Post Office have admitted that they are breaking even financially, so this appears to be a penny-pinching exercise that will result in the loss of jobs locally and the installation of a franchised branch, most probably in WH Smith, where, we believe, it will be difficult to install a full range counter of sufficient size to easily serve the number of people currently using the branch.

3. It's convenient for bus users in it's current location.

4. Based on the example of the franchised branch located in the Cooperative store in Aston Fields, a limited size of counter will also minimise the chances of the new facility complying with the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act, in that installation of a low level counter will be difficult. In addition, wheelchair access to WH Smith is currently limited in width and the store difficult to manoeuvre through, especially when the store is busy.

5. We are extremely concerned that, potentially, the sale or attempted re-letting of the building in the current economic climate will lead to it joining the 25 or so other empty premises in the town centre, increasing the mounting air of public and on-line negativity that already pervades the town centre, and which BHSIF, the local Town Team and BDC have being taking positive steps to address over the last 12 months.

6. We believe that this proposal contradicts the commitment made in the following statement quoted directly from the Post Office Media Centre's current webpage which reads as follows:

"Welcome to the Post Office Media Centre, our online resource for news, information, photos and footage for journalists across the UK.
Post Office Limited has an unrivalled national network of over 11,500 branches across the UK, more than all the high street banks combined, and sits at the heart of many communities across the country. The Post Office has made a commitment to no more branch closure programmes. It provides around 170 different services and products spanning financial services including savings, insurance, loans, mortgages and credit cards. Post Office also offers Government services; foreign currency; travel insurance and mail services. It serves around 18 million customers a week and half of all small businesses. 99.7% of the total population live within three miles of a post office. For many rural communities the post office is the only retail outlet. Post Offices remain highly valued and trusted and are the focal point for many communities.
For more information, visit www.postoffice.co.uk"

We therefore demand that this post office be removed from the list of closures.