Councillor Phil Bateman said today “Readers of this site will know that I have been in constant contact with the Post Office since they withdrew services from Woodend. Now I can inform you that they have finalised a new deal, here is what they informed me yesterday. I am obviously very pleased that the Post Office has made its choice. Incidentally its a choice I would have made if I was in their business shoes! I do hope that residents will give the move the big thumbs up! We have missed the Post Office from this important local Shopping Parade”
As you may be aware our proposal to move the Post Office to 272 Wood End Road did not progress. Wood End Post Office subsequently closed in September 2015 due to the premises at Lower Prestwood Road no longer being available for Post Office use.
Since then we have been working hard to restore Post Office services to the community and I’m therefore pleased to confirm that a new operator has secured alternative premises nearby. We are now proposing to re-open the above Post Office branch in a new location – Nisa Food Store, 289 Wood End Road, Wolverhampton, WV11 1YQ. I am also pleased to tell you that, if the proposal goes ahead, it will change to one of our new local style branches.
We know that it’s important that our customers have continued access to Post Office services and in order to restore a service locally we have made the decision to re-open a Post Office at this new location. Just like the vast majority of our branches, this branch will be run alongside the operator’s retail businesses, which helps the sustainability of the branch and its long-term future.
This change is part of a major programme of modernisation taking place across the Post Office network, the largest in the history of Post Office Ltd. The Programme is underpinned by Government investment and will see up to 8,000 branches modernised and additional investment in over 3,000 community and outreach branches.
What will this mean for customers?
- Post Office services will be offered from a till on the retail counter in a modern open plan branch
- Longer opening hours
- The majority of Post Office products and services will still be availableConsulting on the proposed new location Whilst the decision to re-open at this new location has been made we would still welcome your feedback on the accessibility of the new branch. We’re now starting a 6 week local public consultation and would like you to tell us what you think about the suitability of the proposed new location. Before we finalise our plans, we would really like to hear your views on the proposed location, particularly on the following areas:
- Are the new premises easy for you to get into and is the inside easily accessible?
- Do you have any concerns about the new location?
- If so, do you have any suggestions that could help us make it better for you?
- Are there any local community issues which you think could be affected by the proposed move?
- Is there anything you particularly like about the proposed change?
I’ve enclosed an information sheet that provides more details about the new location and the range of products that will be available. If you have any comments or questions, please email or write to me via our Communication and Consultation team, whose contact details are below. Please note that your comments will not be kept confidential unless you expressly ask us to do so by clearly marking them “In Confidence”. Any information we receive will be considered as we finalise our plans for the new branch. Other people in your organisation may be interested in this proposal, so please let them know about it.
You can share your views on the proposed move through our easy and convenient new online questionnaire via the link below. When entering the site you will be asked to enter the code for this branch: 23624699
Dates for local public consultation:
| Local Public Consultation starts | 26 May 2016 |
| Local Public Consultation ends | 07 July 2016 |
| Proposed month of change | July 2016 |
In order to restore Post Office services to our customers in this part of Wolverhampton, the new service is due to open at 13:00 on Friday 15 July 2016. However, this does not affect the period of public consultation which will be open between the dates stated above. Therefore, if you do wish to contact me, please note that 07 July 2016 is the closing date for all enquiries. We’re carrying out this consultation in line with our Code of Practice. You can find more information about the Code at the end of this letter, and copies of the Code will also be available in branch. Thank you for considering our proposal. At the end of the consultation I’ll be in touch again to let you know our final plans.
