Hook - Keep our delivery office open!

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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VILLAGERS in Hart are gearing up for a battle to save a delivery office in Hook.

Royal Mail announced in April that the delivery office in Osborn Way is set to close, affecting customers in the RG27 and RG29 postcode areas.

It would mean residents in those areas having their mail delivered from |the Basingstoke centre, in Priestley Road.

The matter was raised at the end of a meeting of Hook Parish Council.

Anne Atkins, parish clerk, said she did not think many residents knew about the planned closure, and that the parish council should consider campaigning to keep it open.

She told The Gazette there was a fear that people might not be able to pick up undelivered mail in Hook.

The clerk said: “I have had to go to the delivery office twice in the last week, and when I have mentioned it to other people they have been angry and completely unaware that it’s closing.

“The biggest thing for Hook residents is to have to go to Basingstoke.

“It would be very difficult to get through the traffic in Basingstoke and get in and out in the morning.”

She said the parish council has now written to local schools and will publicise the issue before formally deciding whether to launch a campaign at its next meeting, on Wednesday, June 1.

Cllr Alastair Clark, chairman of Hart District Association of Parish Councils, said he had emailed all the clerks of affected parish councils after learning of the closure plan.

Cllr Clark said: “I am concerned about it but I do not think the general public are aware of it at all.”

Royal Mail did not respond in time to a request for comment by The Gazette.

However, they said previously that they would look into keeping facilities open to enable people to collect undelivered mail.

Richard Hall, senior external relations manager at Royal Mail, said in April that a fall in the amount of mail sent, thanks to the growth of electronic communications, was behind the plans.

He added: “The move will provide improved working conditions, secure employment and be a more cost-effective option.”

[sashsquatch]

This is absolutely terrible news. For those of us who work all week and can't sit at home waiting for the postman, or get down to the delivery office on the same day, this is going to mean a Saturday morning trip into Basingstoke, sometimes on a weekly basis. This is a 16 or so mile round trip, into a busy town centre, most weekends. If life gets in the way of a trip into Basingstoke on a Saturday morning then you're potentially looking at a two week wait to pick up post. Because of this we'll probably find a lot of parcels being sent back because they haven't been picked up in time! At Christmas time, this is going to be an even worse nightmare.

We often have delivery notes for items listed as "won't fit through the letter box" and have to go and pick them up, but with the delivery office where it is that isn't a problem, it only takes 10 minutes. These items will mostly always fit through the letter box though, so to have to make a special trip into Basingstoke, possibly weeks after it was orignally supposed to be delivered, to pick up a parcel that could have been pushed through the letter box but wasn't, adds insult to injury.

I am terribly disappointed to hear that a special trip into a town I seldom visit will be necessary to collect my post, and I think the Royal Mail are making a terrible mistake. If it has to close why can't they incorporate it into the Post Office or something so that residents in this area don't have to use all that petrol, time and energy going into the busy town centre?

I just can't believe this is happening, it is going to have an enormous impact on those of us in this area.