WESTBURY’S new post office will be sited in the Co-op convenience store, it has been confirmed.
Post Office Ltd made the announcement last week that the new branch will be located at the Kingfisher Drive site.
The new post office is scheduled to open on September 24th. The announcement follows a consultation period with local residents that finished last month.
The town has been without a post office since 30th April this year after the branch shut along with the Coopers store.
The news will disappoint the 2,000 signatories of a petition calling for a location nearer the centre of the town to be found.
Cllr Russell Hawker, chair of the Westbury Area Board and the creator of the petition, said that the decision was not a surprising one.
“That was their intention anyway,” he said. “I think it would have been better for Westbury to have a post office in the High Street but the Co-op is a good shop. I think it is better to have the post office in a good shop than no post office at all.”
The news has been welcomed in other quarters.
Mayor of Westbury, cllr Sue Ezra, is pleased with the news. She said, “I think it’s good to see a firm decision. I would have liked to see a post office on the High Street but as no-one came forward I think that at the moment this decision is the right one. It will be up and running before Christmas which is important.”
David Jenkins, Wiltshire councillor and chairman of Westbury Chamber of Commerce said, “I think we have to go with it and give it our support. At last it’s a post office in Westbury, something is better than nothing. A town the size of Westbury needs a post office.”
A Post Office spokesman said, “Our aim has always been to reinstate Post Office services in Westbury as quickly as possible and to ensure that it is sustainable in the longer term. From the feedback we received from the majority of Post Office users in Westbury we are confident that the new service will be both welcomed and supported by the town.”
The new Westbury Post Office will offer improved access with level entry and a wide door to make easier for customers with mobility constraints. A purpose-built serving counter, with low level facilities for those in wheelchairs, will also be installed.
The new post office will open 9.00am – 5.30pm Monday – Friday and 9.00am – 1.00pm Saturday. All the same services as in the last branch will be available.
Pete Stephens, secretary of Westbury Probus Club said, “Whilst being somewhat disappointed in the decision taken one has to be practical and, given the commercial factors involved together with constraints imposed by the PO themselves, the Council had little option but to agree with the move to the CO-OP if Westbury was to see full facilities restored before next Spring.
“From assurances sought, by Councillors, to the effect that there would be no diminution of facilities, by the PO at the sub-post offices at The Ham, Dilton Marsh and Bratton, it would seem that residents in those areas will continue to use them and their associated ‘convenience’ stores whilst those living in the Leighton Park, Oldfield and The Butts will either have upwards of an extra 1 mile to walk or avail themselves of the hourly bus service. None of which will do much to facilitate the rejuvenation of the centre of Westbury.”
