Village PO needs signs

Published on 9th August 2007 in Letters

Sir - I should like to comment on the report in the Goole Times for August 2 concerning the financial difficulties and the threat of closure being experienced by Rawcliffe Post Office. Because this post office is off the main road through the village and therefore difficult to spot by passing traffic the owners requested the erection of signs to help the public find it. The East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the Rawcliffe Parish Council refused this request as it is not policy to put up signs for commercial premises. These two councils are misguided. Is a post office commercial premises?

If a stranger passing through the village needs a post office, do they need it to buy an ice-cream or a tin of beans, or whatever? Of course not, they need it because it is a post office - to buy stamps, post a parcel, or one of the dozens of other facilities offered only by such an outlet. The Post Office, collectively, is a public service, just as a railway station is a public service.

The selling of commercial goods in a post office has become a necessity because of the meagre salaries the Post Office pays its postmasters, but this does not mean that it is not a public service still.

Railway stations are entirely run privately for commercial profit - the trains, the tracks, the stations and their commercial businesses within are privately owned. Yet they are allowed to have signs in public places - I can see one from the window of the room in which I write this letter, pointing to Rawcliffe Station. Throughout Europe one sees public signs indicating the whereabouts of 'La Poste', 'La Posta', 'Das Postamt', etc. Why should this country be any different?

It seems to me, therefore, that there is a serious inconsistency in the policies of the Councils and they should, therefore, reconsider the logic of their arguments. They should consult with the Post Office and other relevant organisations to resolve the problem so that post offices get the same rights to having signposts as other public services.

Tony Drake

High Street,

Rawcliffe