There were 70 people at the height of the protest and 48 at the lowest count

St Leonards Post Office keeps our local economy thriving

Last Saturday saw a grand turn out by the local community to defend the CROWN Post Office in St Leonards. HOT’s Erica Smith joined the throngs to find out why people were so concerned about the intention to close the only CROWN Post Office left in the whole of Hastings.

© Danny Mooney

The turn out for the Save St Leonards CROWN Post Office was impressive to say the least – and whilst the heavy presence of the local creative community made it feel a little like an open-air Private View, the support for the demonstration and the number of people who stopped to sign the petition showed how concerned the whole community is about losing the essential services that only a CROWN Post Office provides. The image alongside is local artist Danny Mooney’s depiction of the protest.

I have capitalised the word CROWN on purpose. Hastings lost its Crown Post Office which has now moved into WH Smiths. The closure of the Hastings Post Office was well defended by the community, but tragic as it was, if anything, Hastings can cope without a CROWN Post Office better than St Leonards.

Unlike a sub-Post Office or a franchised counter service, a CROWN Post Office is owned by the Post Office and provides certain services that are not available at a counter service – the most crucial service for an area with a poor and ageing population is provision for collection of pensions and benefits. If you are young and working, it is easy to forget that not everyone has access to the internet or even a bank account. Central St Leonards is one of the most deprived wards in the country, and the services provided by a CROWN Post Office are essential to those more vulnerable sectors of our population.

Now St Leonards has lost all its banks, the banking services provided by the Post Office are also of prime importance. The Post Office provides a banking service for people with Co-op bank accounts, and also offers a full postal service, alongside providing foreign currency, road tax, passports, TV licences and broadband.

When I visited St Leonards CROWN Post Office on Monday to post a parcel for work, I was very aware how essential a full Post Office service is. Normally I have to use the new franchised service in Hastings’ WH Smith. This is a slow, under-resourced and joyless experience involving ‘automated’ post machines that have to be constantly supported by the few and over-stretched counter staff, much to the annoyance of the people left static in the long customer queues.

Kay Avery Stallion, from St Leonards Modern Goods in Norman Road is a regular user of the Post Office to send goods to her online customer base. She has spearheaded the campaign to save the Post Office because she understands what a vital service it provides to the local community. She says, “It has taken St Leonards ten years to get to the stage it is now at. Losing the Post Office is guaranteed to cause a significant drop in footfall to the area. There are a lot of shop keepers here who depend on e-Bay customers to keep their businesses going. When they visit the Post Office to post their orders, they’ll pick up their bread from Oak Bakery, use St Leonards Greengrocers and have a coffee in SHOP – their money stays in St Leonards and supports the other businesses.”

If you missed the demonstration on Saturday, you can still show your support in the following ways:
– sign the petition available in St Leonards Greengrocers, Kings Road Butchers, the Horse & Groom and St Leonards pubs, the Kino and St Leonards Modern Goods
– write to your local Borough and County councillors – whoever they are (not just Central St Leonards) and Amber Rudd MP
– encourage St Leonards Town Team to support the campaign
– make sure local businesses are not tempted to bid for taking on a franchised counter service
– join the Facebook group and keep your eyes open and attend the next public meeting in December (date to be confirmed).

As Kay says, “We can’t stop the Post Office from closing branches to streamline their business but we CAN stop them from selecting OURS.”

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