Rye Lane Post office in Peckham is facing closure - ACT NOW

[dbboy]

Not directly in East Dulwichm but very much related to the area.

The following is extracted from The South London Press

Rye Lane Post office in Peckham is facing closure

Friday, 4 March 2016 By Jack Dixon in Local People

PLANS to axe another post office branch have been revealed ? only days after campaigners staged a protest against cutbacks.

Bosses are planning to permanently close the Rye Lane office in Peckham and open a downsized branch in the area.

The branch manager and six counter staff have been told they will be offered the chance to move to another post office or apply for voluntary redundancy.

The announcement follows protests against the proposed downgrading of the branch in Walworth Road last month, where 11 jobs are due to be lost.

The Post Office hopes to reopen a smaller branch in the Rye Lane area and is seeking a retail partner to run the service.

But a spokeswoman warned that if an agreement could not be reached there would be ?no alternative? but to close the branch. She said the building?s landlord was planning to redevelop the site and had made provision for the post office, but that finding temporary accommodation for up to a year would not be ?commercially viable?.

Instead it is planning to close the branch and open a new sub-office but it is not yet clear which services would be offered or how many staff would be retained.

Ian Ward, a national executive member for the Communications Workers Union (CWU), which represents Crown Post Office workers, said it was possible that the Rye Lane area could be left without any post office facilities at all.

He said: ?The CWU is opposed to this closure and will be talking to Southwark council to see if we can find alternative premises. ?We will also be asking the Post Office to actively look for alternative sites and will make sure that they honour their commitment to find alternative roles for staff in the area.?

A 12-week public consultation will be held before any final decisions are made about the future of the Rye Lane branch.

There are five other branches within a 1.6-mile radius of Rye Lane which users would be advised to visit instead.

She said: ?It is important to underline that customer habits are fast-changing and we have to continue to adapt.

?Our Crown network is under a lot of financial pressure and although the current landlord?s plans do include space for a post office branch, the space is smaller and would require us to vacate the premises for at least 12 months.

?It is not commercially viable for us to temporarily close or relocate a branch while we wait for the site to be developed.?

The Post Office has been given an eviction date of May 6 but has asked for an extension of its current lease while the consultation takes place. A start date has not yet been set.

[Blah Blah]

How is renting a temporary site not 'commercially viable', especially if the rent were comparable?

That post office always has a long queue because there are so few counter staff anyway.

Hope this isn't being seen as an opportunity to close yet another Post Office by Royal Mail.

[Penguin68]

How is renting a temporary site not 'commercially viable', especially if the rent were comparable?

Post Offices are not like shops, they need significant security (including safes) and data communications installations to allow them to operate; installing these and then removing them for only 12 months tenure would not cost-in, I would guess. It's not the rental but the fit-up that makes a temporary full Post Office not cost effective. Remember that Post Office 'stock' (money, postal stamps, forex, official forms and stamps) is very vulnerable to theft. And requires very secure surroundings for operation.

[Huggers]

This is a great post office!

[dbboy]

I posted this as I only became aware after seeing the headline outside on a newsagents board otherwise I would not have known. I'll be honest and say that I rarely use this particular post office, however there must be hundreds if not thousand of people its closure will affect. Plus those staff who may loose their jobs. SO we need to try to save it from closing. I do not know how or if a group exists that is campaigning against the proposed closure, it is even more imperative that it remains open as it is a Crown Post Office, which I presume means it offers more services than a bulk standard post office, Please correct me if I am wrong about that.

[Burbage]

Penguin68 Wrote:

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> Post Offices are not like shops, they need

> significant security (including safes) and data

> communications installations to allow them to

> operate;

Not any more they don't. They can be run from a box on a counter, as exemplified by the smooth and successful transfer of the Post Office business from the Post Office near The Plough (complete with safe and floor-to-ceiling screens) to the Costcutter opposite the library (a bit of perspex behind the Twixes). As any cash needed is "borrowed" from the "retail partner's" float, and the sub-postmaster's contract makes the sub-postmaster entirely responsible for any losses or shortfalls, there's no need for Post Office to invest in any sort of security at all.

As for communications, standard links work well enough. At least, Post Office management believe they do and although an investigation (that Parliament forced the Post Office to commission) suggested that they don't (see answer to Q51 here), Post Office (as they prefer to be called) can choose whichever version of the truth turns out most profitable, just as any company can if it takes enough care to shelter its senior management from the business they're paid to be running.

[Bic Basher]

The argument for closing surely is that there's already a post office in Peckham on the High Street opposite the bus station.

However, despite this, losing the post office will be a big blow to that end of Rye Lane.

[edhistory]

It may be some time ago when I had work-related bulk transactions running through Rye Lane BO, but..

I'm pretty sure this was then a Crown building.

Has anyone checked with the Land Registry for a recent transfer?

John K

[dirac]

It's a shame they have to move it, great PO and usually pretty busy.

[Sue]

Just to be clear, Royal Mail does not run Post Offices.

The Post Office and Royal Mail are completely separate companies. Royal Mail delivers parcels and letters. Post Offices offer a wide range of services. Obviously there is a relationship between them.

Royal Mail was once part of the Post Office, but many moons ago, so was BT :)

[Bic Basher]

And it's also worth noting that Post Office Ltd doesn't run all of the post offices, most are run by independent traders who receive a subsidy for operating the businesses.

The preferred model is to have loss making main post offices move into existing retail outlets, such as WHSmith in Forest Hill. WHSmith has been one of the main beneficiaries of PO moves, which has certainly saved some of their retail shops.

[dbboy]

I believe the post office in Rye lane is a Crown Office, so different from the retail shop Po's spoken about above.

[Bic Basher]

dbboy Wrote:

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> I believe the post office in Rye lane is a Crown

> Office, so different from the retail shop Po's

> spoken about above.

It is currently, but the Rye Lane branch is destined to move inside a retail shop. Same for the other locally threatened branches in Walworth Road and Sydenham.

The issue is with Rye Lane is that all the chains are closer to the existing PO on Peckham High Street, which leaves ASDA (a distinct possibility), Tesco Express or an independent store with adequate space for at least three counters.

An off the ball suggestion would be for the PO to move into the UCKG church/Help Centre. They have plenty of space.

[JohnL]

Bic Basher Wrote:

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>

> An off the ball suggestion would be for the PO to

> move into the UCKG church/Help Centre. They have

> plenty of space.

Some people have issues with them (I have none first hand).

"The Church has frequently been accused

of illegal activities and corruption, including money laundering, charlatanism,

and witchcraft"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Church_of_the_Kingdom_of_God