Tadley mail delivery office will close, says Royal Mail – but the fight to save it goes on.
Members of the Save Our Delivery Office campaign hit the streets on June 2 in a bid to drum up signatures against the closure.
More than 1,500 people signed the petition, which was drawn up by Tadley town councillor Stuart Frost and borough councillor Stephen West and called on Royal Mail to the to rethink its cost-saving proposals.
Earlier this year, Royal Mail announced it planned to relocate the Newchurch Road office to Basingstoke by the autumn this year.
Spokesman Richard Hall said the move followed a fall in the number of letters being sent and the current economic crisis.
He cited a rise the email and social networking as the cause. Across the company’s network of 1,500 delivery offices, the number of letters handled has fallen by 20 million a day over four years and is forecasted to fall a further 20 million by 2015.
He said: “Faced with declining mail volumes and increasingly tough trading conditions, Royal Mail constantly reviews the operational efficiency and commercial practicality of all its units.
“We have had some constructive meetings with campaigners and listened to the points raised. But it is still our intention to move to Basingstoke.”
The Tadley base handles up to 310 undelivered items weekly for homes in Tadley, Baughurst, Silchester and Hannington.
Items can be picked up there by residents, re-delivered on another day for free or collected from a post office for a charge of £1.50.
Mr Hall admitted that scrapping the delivery office would force postal workers to start their shifts from Priestly Road in Basingstoke, but he said the company is looking at storing undelivered mail at post offices in Tadley where they could be collected for free.
But campaigners say the town’s post offices do not have the space to store undelivered post and said the 11-mile round trip to Basingstoke to collect items would cause problems for many residents.
Cllr West said: “It’s clear that everybody affected by this wants this office to stay open. And it is clear to me that Royal Mail is weakening.
“Our position is getting stronger and I hope they will be leaving things as they are.”
For more information on the campaign, visit www.saveour deliveryoffice.com
