Residents Meeting - Monday 1st September, The New Lamp, Bankbottom, Hadfield 8.00pm

Next Monday is the 1st September. It also happens to be the first Monday in the month which means our monthly meeting will take place at the New Lamp, Bankbottom, Hadfield on Monday 1st September at 8.00pm. Here follows the Agenda but anyone wishing to add an item can e-mail it for inclusion and we will do our best to accomodate. All welcome.

AGENDA - RESIDENTS MEETING - MONDAY 1ST SEPT 2008 - THE NEW LAMP

1. Apologies.
2. Matters arising from last meeting.
3. Correspondence.
4. Update on Sorting Office Dispute.
5. Update on Lambgates situation.
6. Sustainable Communities Act - what it is and how we can use it.
7. Allotments.
8. Chapel Lane Park threat?
9. A.O.B.

HADFIELD SORTING OFFICE CLOSURE THREAT - Official Response From Royal Mail

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Many Hadfield residents have by now received official replies from Royal Mail (RM) who attempt to address concerns regarding the proposed closure of the Sorting Office. Our thanks to readers of this blog who forwarded copies of the said item which can be read above.

The matter hinges (according to the RM spokesperson) around the question of suitability of the Station Road premises which they state are "no longer fit for purpose" under Health and Safety guidelines.

The building was assessed by council H&S officer Mark Carlisle but during a meeting of residents last month, a Health and Safety Officer from the Communication Workers Union who represent postal workers stated that Hadfield is one of the safest Sorting Offices in the country.

So, what is the problem? If it is down to "lack of space" then surely, it will have always been so, the building hasn't suddenly decreased in size.

Does Hadfield post office need the latest design in sorting frames? Or, would we prefer to have our local posties happy in their jobs without the extra inconvenience of daily travel into Hyde and back out again twice a day?

If RM do, as the letter says, "consider the well-being of our staff to be of paramount importance" why did our local postal delivery workers feel that they had no option but to strike over these issues?

Whilst RM may well 'intend' to continue to offer the option for customers to collect mail from the Hadfield office we have absolutely no guarantee that this will happen or for how long. Indeed, the letter goes on to give a not-so-subtle get-out clause with the words, "however...a post office can close for any number of reasons" and, "we cannot guarantee that any post office will remain open indefinitely".

It should be heartening to be told that the sub-postmistress will continue to be paid for allowing customers to collect parcels from the post office but the reality is that renumeration for this will not be anything like what she receives for the Sorting Office side of the business. There is no doubt that the business will struggle to pay it's way without the substantial annual income derived from this aspect of the business.

Contrary to the claims in the letter, I suggest, Post Office Ltd., that you do have some control over whether the sub postmistress resigns/retires or not!

On a wider issue, what worries me is the unrelenting continuation of the trend to centralise everything at huge costs to jobs, the environment and people's lives when what we, as customers, residents, neighbours, and workers really need is for these services to WORK for US in our community.

UPDATE ON THE HADFIELD D.L.O. DISPUTE

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Hello Everyone,

Apologies to our regular readers for the lack of posts this week but there is a reason. Oddly enough, it's actually due to over activity rather than a lack of it. We have been busy wording, printing and delivering the above postcard, which is the centrepiece of our campaign to Save Hadfield Sorting Office from closure.

The postcard sums up our fears for the future of Hadfield Post Office. itself should the L.D.O. be closed and this has been dealt with in earlier posts. However there have been some developments over the past few days which I will summarise.

Bouyed by the staggering support shown by residents across Hadfield through their poster campaign, local posties voted unanimously for strike action in an attempt to reverse the 90 Day Closure Notice issued by Post Office Management.

Two days worth of strike action were called, the first being Thursday 10th July. The scheduled second day, which was to be Monday 14th July wasn't actually needed due to the fact that the P.O. buckled and finally agreed to hold talks with the CWU after previously refusing to discuss the matter.

What has been agreed is a six step negotiation process which will take six weeks to complete. This is certainly a step in the right direction and obviously means there is the real possibility of a positive outcome.

Consequently, our proposed Public Meeting has to be put on hold pending negotiations as it would be unrealistic to expect either party to speak publicly whilst talks are in progress nor would it be pertinent to do so when there is a chance of a positive outcome through official channels. We will of course still be ready to call such a meeting if and when it seems appropriate and/or necessary.

Our postcard campaign, on the other hand, is vital right now, which is why we are attempting to get thousands of them out across Hadfield over the next week or so. The people of Hadfield have shown local posties their support through displaying their posters. Posties have shown their determination to keep the L.D.O. open by being prepared to take strike action.

The final piece in the jigsaw is for us all to show the main man himself, Chairman, Allan Leighton how angry we are at the Closure Notice. Residents and service users can do this by putting a stamp on the card that comes through their door and mailing it to him. If you can't wait for yours to arrive you can always print off the one above on card!

If you would like to help the campaign along, you can volunteer to help deliver our postcard by e-mailing us at tinhadra@aol.com and we'll get the cards out to you. The following map details our progress so far and where you can come in:

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TINTWISTLE POST OFFICE JOINS HIT LIST

Postal users in our communities have suffered a double whammy.

In addition to the 90 day closure notice that has been put on Hadfield Sorting Office, with the implication that this has for the future of Hadfield Post Office itself, we are now told Tintwistle Post Office is under imminent threat of closure.

It is one of five postal offices within High Peak that face the axe as part of a national cull under the ominously named Network Change Programme. The other four are Birch Vale, Chapel Town End, Dove Holes and Peak Forest.

A full analysis and comment will follow in an imminent blog but for now it will suffice to say that it will form the main topic of discussion at our next Residents meeting, which will be at the New Lamp, Bankbottom, Hadfield on Monday July 7th at 8.00pm.

In the meantime you can click onto the Post Office website, here where you can comment online until 21/07/08 and here's the story and picture from the front of this week's glossop advertiser