From 2006 to 2010, I was a councillor for Lee Green ward in the London Borough of Lewisham. During that time, I blogged regularly and in 2009 I won the Tim Garden Award for the Best Blog by a Liberal Democrat Holding Public Office. My blog posts from my term of office are archived here in case they prove of use to former constituents, or to those who share my annoyance with faulty street furniture
Today another round of Post Office closures was announced. As part of a cull of 2,500 Post Offices nationwide, 169 Post Offices in London are for the chop – and one of them’s in Lee Green ward – the Burnt Ash Hill Post Office, near Lee Station.
Burnt Ash Hill Post Office is the last Post Office in our ward (the Post Office next to the New Tigers’ Head is actually in Greenwich Borough).
The Post Office themselves admit that Burnt Ash Hill is used by between 1,000 and 1,500 people every week – I’m not surprised, given how handy it is for Lee Station and local bus routes. It’s part of a thriving parade of shops, and we don’t have to look too far in Lee Green to see what happens when shops start pulling out of a parade.
The Post Office haven’t proved very willing to listen to local people when they’ve proposed closures elsewhere, but your Lee Green Councillor team are not going to take this proposal lying down.
We’ve launched a petition and set up a special campaign website – www.ourcampaign.org.uk/burntash – where you can sign the petition and download a form so you can collect more signatures yourself. Please do visit it and encourage your friends and family to sign the petition – the more signatures, the better.
I’ve been in touch with the press, and the NewsShopper put an article on their website this afternoon.
To express your views direct to the Post Office, write to Anita Turner, Network Development Manager, C/o National Consultation Team, FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM. You can call the Post Office team on 08457 22 33 44 or email consultation {at} postoffice.co(.)uk
