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Save the Rosary Road Post Office

The consultation period has now closed. The Green Party formally objected to the proposed closures of the Rosary Road and Trowse Post Office branches. The national Post Office is considering the consultation responses and is expected to announce its decision on 26th June.

The consultation

The Green Party objects to the closure of the Bowthorpe Road branch for a number of reasons:

• Many of the Post Office users are elderly (there are several homes for older people nearby) and would find it very difficult to travel any further to another Post Office.
• The main alternative is Castle Mall, where there are often long queues, and it is much less convenient for people living in the Thorpe Hamlet area to access as it either involves walking uphill or paying for the bus or to park a car. The argument has been made that the branch is within a mile of Castle Mall but many of the people who use this branch live further away from the Castle Mall than that.
• Easy car parking is available outside the Post Office, and it is within easy walking and cycling distance for thousands of local residents. A frequent bus service stops nearby.
• There is disabled access and the shop meets the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. Officials had claimed that there is a step at the front of the shop that prevents people in wheelchairs from getting in. This is not true.
• The Postmaster and her colleagues are very community-minded. The Green Party has received lots of reports of them taking goods to older people living nearby when they are unwell and of them helping people across the road. If you are one of the people who has benefited from this community service, or know people who have, please put this in your letter.
• If the Post Office was lost from this location the associated shop may well be lost too.
• The loss of this branch would add unnecessary strain on to the city's other branches such as the one at Castle Mall which is failing to cope with its current levels of customer demand, especially at peak periods. Forcing existing customers to use the Castle Mall branch will also cause further harm to our neighbouring communities by adding to the city centre's congestion at a time when local authorities are working hard to eliminate unnecessary traffic.
• Instead of closing this branch you should be looking at giving it the ability to run extra services to help it generate more income.

Councillor Peter Offord's objection letter on the proposed closure of the Bowthorpe Road branch can be read here (in Word format).

The Rosary Road Post Office on YouTube

For more information about the populair Rosary Road Post Office, watch this video by by uniQpictures.