News Date: Thursday 13th December 2007
Tim tables Parliamentary Motion to save Post Offices
Yesterday, East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton and West Worthing MP Peter Bottomley tabled a Parliamentary Motion calling on the Post Office to acknowledge the very strong levels of local opposition to their plans to close 9 Post Offices in Adur and Worthing and to reconsider the criteria by which they have selected these particular branches for closure in such vulnerable circumstances.
This Early Day Motion comes hot on the heels of Tim's challenge to Gordon Brown, at Prime Minister's Question Time, to meet Post Office campaigners to explain why the Government are bulldozing through their deeply unpopular proposals.
The EDM includes the following points:
- The proposals to close no fewer than nine sub-post office branches in Adur and Worthing represents some 50 per cent. of the sub-post offices in East Worthing and Shoreham constituency, this compares tothe national average for closure of 18 per cent. of branches
- Virtually the whole of Sompting and Lancing, England's largest village, will be expected to rely on one remaining Post Office to serve a population of over 29,000
- If the closures go ahead, carbon emissions from the local area will increase substantially, with a survey from one Lancing sub-post office alone calculating that the effect of passengers driving to alternative locations will be to generate 25 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year, this would require the planting of 31 acres of woodland to offset it.
Tim commented:
"This EDM is just another aspect of my campaign to stop these alarming Post Offices closures. I will be encouraging my fellow MPs to sign this EDM and support the campaign.
"On Monday I shall be presenting the petition to save local Post Offices to Parliament during a debate I have secured on the subject."
ENDS
