Three week old Marlow Post Office could close

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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MARLOW'S new Post Office may close after just three weeks because of a dispute over disabled access to the building.

The family who run the new amenity in Institute Road say they are willing to quit and lose their £30,000 investment.

It follows disability campaigners' outrage over the three inch step which means wheelchair users have to be lifted in ( see related articles below).

Sub-postmistress Aruna Soni said they are doing their best to find a solution but their plans to amend the problem have been rejected by Wycombe District Council.

Mrs Soni, whose family has spent £30,000 setting it up, said: “ That's my hard earned blood money. I regret taking this Post Office. If needs be I'll shut it down. I'm willing to give up rather than having this aggravation.

“If they persist and say we have to have this ramp I will have no alternative but to shut down because I can't afford it.”

She added the majority of residents are “delighted” with them.

Royal Mail bosses have told her Marlow will have no Post Office if they were to go.

The temporary building in Dean Street car park, which was labelled a 'third world shack' by tourists, has already gone.

Marlow Chamber of Trade said there will be “uproar” if the amenity is allowed to close but has backed the Soni family who run it.

Marlow Chamber of Trade Secretary Jo Braybrooke said she was “gobsmacked”.

She said: “It really is a dire situation, it's absolutely appalling and there will be uproar if it goes.

“Marlow is a big place and we need a Post Office. It needs to be looked at carefully as to where it went wrong and why.

“Whoever gave them the go ahead is at fault and whoever mucked up should bite the bullet and pay for the changes.”

“What we need is a compromise, the Sonis need help from somebody.”

Barry Young, director of Marlow Flooring, said it was “ludicrous” after Marlow had waited nearly three years for a permanent Post Office.

He said: “It's like we've won the lottery in Marlow and then the cheque has bounced. If we lose the Post Office it's going to be bedlam, it's a horrendous situation.

“If the council are not prepared to bend slightly with the application, I think they are being unreasonable.

“This town can't survive without a Post Office.”

He questioned why the new information centre next door, which is accessible to disabled customers, could not have been connected to the Post Office.

Wycombe District Council are the leaseholders of the property.

However, spokesman Catherine Spalton said responsibility for ensuring disabled access lies with the Post Office and it “would not be appropriate or the council to cover the costs of any access improvements” because it is a commercial organisation.

She said: “During the planning stages and prior to the opening of the Post Office, we informed the operator of their obligation to consider disabled access to the premises.”

WDC's building team reviewed a drawing sent to them last week, outlining possible access improvements.

They recommended it should follow guidance in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and try to “to mirror more closely” the ramp in the new information centre next door.

Miss Spalton said: “Ultimately, the Post Office and its operator should reach an agreement for what they believe is acceptable in order to satisfy the DDA before implementing the changes and supporting the design with a robust access statement.”

The Post Office released this statement: "We do not approve detailed designs, however we do offer advice and support to our agents on ensuring that their premises are accessible and a disability grant scheme is available.

“We are still in discussions with our agent over the matter and further construction advice is being sought this week to see if anything more can be done.

“Obviously the size and design of the building are factors which have to be considered but we remain optimistic that the matter can be resolved.

“Post Office Ltd is completely committed to ensuring that Post Office services are maintained in Marlow and would be happy to meet with groups/organisations with a legitimate interest in the issue.”

Contact Post Office® Customer Care, FREEPOST, PO Box 740, Barnsley, S73 0ZJ.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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A LEADING disabled campaigner has lambasted the new Marlow Post Office for leaving her to be “lifted in like a baby” because a step makes it inaccessible.

Alison Lewis, chairman of Wycombe Area Access for All, a wheelchair user, said the new premises in Institute Road were “ a retrograde” move.

The amenity in Institute Road opened on Thursday to replace the temporary building in Dean Street car park which closed three days before.

There is a step at the entrance about three inches higher than street level.

A portable ramp has been bought by the owners for inside the buiding but the problem is getting in in the first place, Ms Lewis said.

Elderly and disabled users had been left “distressed” by the design, she said.

Ms Lewis, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, said: “It's going backwards, now we have no access we have gone back to the darker ages. But we want to be able to do it ourselves.”

The complaints have overshadowed the long awaited return of the Post Office to the heart of Marlow town centre.

Marlow resident Ms Lewis, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, said it goes against regulations set out in The Disability Discrimination Act.

Chairman of Wycombe Area Access for All Ms Lewis said: “It’s dreadful. This is not an improvement, it’s a retrograde move.

"It’s goes completely against what should be done.

“Now we have no access we have gone back to the darker ages.

“I used to be able to get into all of the old three Post Office locations and now I can’t.

“I watched several elderly people on Friday with their various walking aids and saw the sheer look of distress on their face because they didn’t know how to get in.”

The temporary building in Dean Street car park, accessible via a ramp, closed last week.

Ms Lewis said:“They’ve closed down an accessible cabin and gone into an inaccessible unit - therefore in my opinion it’s gone backward.”

She said the postmistress had offered to lift her in in future, but while she appreciated the gesture, it was not the solution.

“You don’t do that, why go from getting in independently on your own steam to being lifted in like a baby or having to do all your banking on the pavement?

“It makes us so visible and dependent.”

The Post Office held a public consultation but Ms Lewis said Wycombe Area Access for All had been completley unaware of it.

Marlow Town Council were heavily involved in securing a permanent home for the service and lobbied the Post Office.

Clerk Howard Bellairs said: “We were surprised that the Post Office weren't aware of the requirements with the DDA, it's pretty fundamental with the access the retail premises that access must be made for disabled people.

"It seems to have been completely ignored.”

He said it was not the town council's responsibility to check the designs.

“They took the premises on and it wasn't for us to start dictating what they would do, I would've expected the Post Office to be aware.”

Leaseholders Wycombe District Council said it made the Post Office aware during the planning stages of the need to consider disabled access.

Sunita Chohan, spokesman for Post Office Ltd, said : "We are aware of some concerns around access for some of our customers and our sub postmistress has engaged a builder to see what improvements can be made.

“Given the constraints for the premises, it is too early to say what these will be but please rest assured that this matter is being taken very seriously."

[Lounge Lizard]

People like this "leading disabled campaigner" tend to be oblivious to what is and what isn't reasonably practical. More and more able bodied passengers stand on train journeys now that disabled toilets take up much larger areas in carriages and I forsee National Trust properties changed almost beyond recognition if they are made to allow disabled access throughout.

[sevenandseven]

Lounge Lizard sounds like he is still living in Victorian times when the disabled would be locked away out of sight.
This is not the fault of disabled people wishing to be treated with dignity but of a business run by someone prepared to lose £30,000 because they did not adhere to the regulations - or ignored the regulations - when starting up. The fact the sub-postmistress is so easily prepared to give up the business over this incident suggests the whole project would not last long anyway.

[Lounge Lizard]

Lounge Lizard sounds like he is still living in Victorian times when the disabled would be locked away out of sight.
This is not the fault of disabled people wishing to be treated with dignity but of a business run by someone prepared to lose £30,000 because they did not adhere to the regulations - or ignored the regulations - when starting up. The fact the sub-postmistress is so easily prepared to give up the business over this incident suggests the whole project would not last long anyway.

Here we go again, someone making a reasoned argument such as "People like this "leading disabled campaigner" tend to be oblivious to what is and what isn't reasonably practical. More and more able bodied passengers stand on train journeys now that disabled toilets take up much larger areas in carriages and I forsee National Trust properties changed almost beyond recognition if they are made to allow disabled access throughout" gets a P C nutter accusing him of "still living in Victorian times"
No, it isn't, and never will be, possible for everyone to do everything as I am only too well aware of through a mild disability since childhood that has over the years excluded me from many types of job, though thankfully not this one.
Yes, taking pubs as an example, obviously it's right that all pubs built for many years have full disabled access and this is a consideration in any major refurbishment, but do you seriuosly suggest that all classic historic centuries old pubs should be shut or altered beyond recognition because a couple of rooms aren't accessable to wheelkchair users, or that pubs with low beams must close as they discriminate against tall people ?
All I was suggesting was consideration being given to what is and what isn't reasonably practical.

[carpbarbel]

i know mrs soni very well she is a very nice person and would not say she would give up if it was not for some boby stupid and red tape or being advised from someone in planning wrongly advising her down the line.