Glasgow North Labour

Labour Politicians welcome west end Post Office Reprieve

January 8th, 2008 | by James Burns (Site Admin) |

Ann McKechin MP for Glasgow North along with her Labour colleagues, Bill Butler MSP for Anniesland and Pauline McNeill MSP for Kelvin welcomed the reprieve granted today by Royal Mail to Kelvindale and Hyndland Branch Post offices.

Commenting jointly on the announcement following the recent public consultation, the local politicians said:

“We are pleased that Royal Mail have listened to our representations regarding the original closure proposal and have recognised the overwhelming reaction of our local communities shown in the large numbers who supported our petition in calling for an adequate post office network to be preserved in the area. We appreciate difficult decisions have to be made to maintain a sustainable national network but we believe that today’s news makes good sense for the service in Kelvindale and Hyndland.”

Ann McKechin along with her colleague, Patricia Ferguson MSP for Maryhill however expressed concern at the timing of the closure at Gilshochill which will coincide with the likely demolition and rebuilding works at Maryhill shopping centre at which point postal services will be transferred for over a year to a temporary portakabin.

They stated:

“We are obviously disappointed that Royal Mail intend to close this branch but believe that at the very least the closure should not be put into effect until the adjoining post office branch based in the Maryhill shopping centre has been fully restored to a normal service level. We anticipate that removing the Maryhill branch into such temporary conditions will prove difficult given the very large numbers of local people who use the facility on a regular basis and that it is essential that adjoining services including those at Gilshochill are retained to meet a likely increased demand”. [ENDS]

Notes for editors

• Ann McKechin MP has been running a local campaign with her Holyrood colleagues against the Post Office’s proposed closures programme in the constituency which would have seen half of all Post Offices in Glasgow North shut down.
• With the help of a broad base of community activists Ann collected over 4,000 signatures for a local petition against the original proposals, at the time of her official submission to the consultation programme run by Post Office Limited.