Update on situation with Fraddon Post Office

As everyone is aware, Fraddon Post Office will close on Wednesday, due to the shutting of Kingsley Village in advance of its redevelopment into a retail park.

The Clerk of St Enoder Parish Council and I have had a number of meetings with a local representative of Post Office Ltd, though this organisation has not yet sorted anything in terms of a replacement local Post Office.

Post Office Ltd have approached retail units in the Indian Queens and St Columb Road area, but none have felt themselves to be in a position to take on the service.

As a short-term alternative, Post Office Ltd states that it will look to provide an outreach service (perhaps in a local village hall), but the Parish Council has been told that they would only look to provide a total of six hours a week spread over two sessions. It is also the case that none of those existing Post Offices (with the equipment to do outreach) have yet expressed an interest in the work.

We have challenged the “offer” of six hours, which is “inadequate.” We have also pointed out that other communities have a greater amount of outreach, such as Mevagissey which has 18 hours spread over four days.

The Parish held its Annual Assembly on 11th April at which councillors fostered a discussion on the situation. As well as parish councillors, this meeting was attended by parishioners and representatives of local groups, and there was considerable anger which is reflected throughout the wider community. A resolution from the floor to make additional representations to senior management of Post Office Ltd was agreed.

In the subsequent wide-ranging letter, which also sought an urgent meeting with senior figures in Post Office Ltd, it was stressed how Fraddon Post Office serves the eastern part of St Enoder Parish (with a resident population of over 4,000 people) and that is incomprehensible that this area would not have its Post Office.

The letter also formally requested that Post Office Ltd is more proactive and that “urgent talks” are held with the new owners (CPG) of Kingsley Village, who were agreeable to a Post Office remaining at Fraddon in the new complex. The planning approval for the site even states that: “A Post Office shall remain within the development,” and it is clear that we need to understand how this might happen and what the timetables will be.

The MP for St Austell and Newquay, Steve Double, has also been contacted and his office is making representations to their contacts within Post Office Ltd.

We know that, at this time, it is vitally important that local people put pressure on the Post Office Ltd to do more to ensure a decent Post Office service in the eastern half of St Enoder Parish. A petition on this important issue is presently being prepared and will be considered at the next meeting of St Enoder Parish Council (Tuesday 24th April).

In addition, we can report that it has just been confirmed that we have secured a meeting with the External Relations Manager from Post Office Ltd on Wednesday 3rd May.