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A Tidworth councillor has said that rumours of the closure of the town’s delivery office would be “damaging” for the community.
Cllr Abe Allen said that he had recently learned of a consultation for plans to close Royal Mail’s Tidworth Delivery Office, which could potentially “threaten local jobs”. He said that under the proposals, residents would need to travel to Andover to collect their post.
He told the Advertiser: “It’s silly to close Tidworth’s sorting office as Tidworth’s not exactly shrinking. I can’t see why it wouldn’t need a delivery office as it’s had one since the town was much smaller and it’s growing still.”
However, Royal Mail has denied the closure is taking place.
Tidworth Delivery Office is located on Kohat Road in the town, and provides the ability to collect undelivered post, as well as drop off prepaid items and print labels.
Cllr Allen announced last week (April 1) that “Royal Mail are currently considering and consulting on plans to close down their delivery office”.
“I’ve heard at the moment is that it’s still going for a consultation and is very early days at the moment,” he said, “but in terms of my perspective I think it potentially could be quite damaging for the community, particularly if it’s not managed well.”
He criticised the potential for residents to have to collect their post from Andover. This journey would take around 20 minutes by car, or around 40 by bus.
“It really doesn’t make sense to me as it’s not even in the same county,” Cllr Allen said, “and it’s quite a distance away. I certainly wouldn’t be walking to the Andover sorting office as it would take several hours to get there and back so people are either going to have to drive there or take public transport”.
He said the move would be “counterproductive” and would damage efforts to go green in the area.
“In terms of meeting our goals for the environment and reducing our carbon footprint, it’s not going to do any favours if we have to go up to Andover,” Cllr Allen said.
The councillor said that the move, if confirmed, “seems like another cost saving exercise” and said it was evidence that Royal Mail should not have been privatised.
Cllr Allen said he had been in contact with the CEO of Royal Mail to clarify the situation, as well as ensure they liaise with trade unions and the public.
“It’s silly to close Tidworth’s sorting office as Tidworth’s not exactly shrinking,” he said. “I can’t see why it wouldn’t need a delivery office as it’s had one since the tow was much smaller and it’s growing still.”
A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: “We regularly review our operations to accommodate the modern postbag with more parcels and fewer letters. At the current time we have no plans to close Tidworth Delivery Office.”
