Post Office Closure ThreatUnsurprisingly there have been objections, particularly from the older folk who live nearby. In particular, there are a number of older people living in the bungalows at Pattens Place. Although there are no fewer than three other Post Offices within what technically can be claimed to be walking distance, the hilly nature of the area means that it would be more or less impossible for those who were less than sprightly to cope with the journey on foot, in one direction or the other.
Local 'bus services are not a particularly convenient solution, though at least there is a 'bus stop almost next to the City Way Post Office (and the "return" stop not far from the facing corner of the road) which—despite a recent request by a resident to have it moved—should stay where it is. The routes, though, are nowhere near ideal for this purpose, and would mean a journey into the Pentagon and then out, in each direction—a totsl of four fares, and taking the best part of an hour each way.
Experience has shown that, regardless of any public consultation undertaken, a local Post Office threatened with closure in the way now being proposed for the City Way branch is very likely to go. Therefore Rochester South and Horsted ward councillors are concentrating on finding a way to deal with the aftermath of closure, so that those who really cannot cope with the walking journey to another Post Office will still be able to get there and back.
As these will generally be retired people, probably the most useful way we can help is for our self-employed member, Cllr Nick Brice, to shuttle small groups in his car to and from one of the remaining nearby Post Offices on Pension Day—Thursday—which he has agreed to do whenever possible, and will try to keep at least part of every Thursday free for this purpose. Thus three or four people at a time can be ferried between Pattens Lane and this other Post Office, and Nick can make several trips, so this could benefit a dozen or more people.
It will be a while yet before a final decision on the future of the City Way branch is reached, and longer still before it is actually closed if this is what is decided will happen. This gives us time to try to come up with better solutions, for example if there is a minibus available for us to borrow. We shall be liaising with groups such as Age Concern to see if they know of any existing facility we can tap into for our elderly residents in Pattens Place.
Therefore our plan will go ahead to find a way to ferry those folk to and from another Post Office on at least one day per week, ideally more than that. Whatever becomes possible, those affected will be informed of what arrangements we are able to put in place, once the details are known.