Angus post offices are “under siege” an MP has claimed, with the future of an Arbroath branch now under scrutiny.
Post Office Ltd has opened a six-week consultation on the future of the Timmergreens outlet in Arbirlot Road.
The proposal is to close the existing office and have services provided from the neighbouring RS McColl newsagent.
This comes hard on the heels of confirmation that Westmuir post office, near Kirriemuir, will close its doors next month with no plans in place for future service provision in the village.
There is ongoing consultation with regard to post office services in Monifieth while, elsewhere in Angus, six-week consultation programmes have closed in respect of Kirriemuir, Forfar, Edzell, and Brechin.
The Brechin office will flit from its dedicated berth in Clerk Street to Hendry’s newsagent in Swan Street in February.
Angus Council leader Iain Gaul said it was a fait accompli for any branch that was singled out for change, as change would inevitably follow.
The consultations, he argued, were a “box-ticking” exercise and he would have more respect for the Post Office if it described the process as a presentation exercise rather than a proposal and consultation.
He said: “It’s the future business model that the Post Office has got and one they are putting in place throughout the country.
“It doesn’t matter what folk say you’ll get what the Post Office are putting up and that’s it.
As news of the Timmergreens proposal emerged, Angus MP Mike Weir, left, appealed to every person who used the resource to participate in the consultation to ensure they got the service they wanted.
Nevertheless, he remained concerned about what level of consultation there would be.
He said: “This is the latest proposal from Post Office Ltd to change post office services in Angus following upon recent proposed changes in Brechin, Edzell, Forfar, Kirriemuir and Westmuir.
“Yet again this has come out of the blue, with no prior notification or consultation with the community.
“Post Office Ltd insists the number of changes in Angus is coincidental, but it is beginning to feel that our post office services are under siege.
“There have been substantial changes already and, if all the latest go through, the system will be unrecognisable from that which existed prior to the privatisation of Royal Mail and the establishment of Post Office Ltd as a separate company.”
Mr Weir acknowledged the proposal for Timmergreens might be less controversial than others, given that it is a move of a few yards between adjacent properties.
But he said it was “vitally important” that customers make representations to the Post Office if they have concerns.
He noted that national watchdogs Consumer Futures will also look at all changes from the service user point of view.
Mr Weir said: “Since the changes made on privatisation, consultation is the only means of influencing the decision.
A Post Office spokesman said: “Angus residents can be assured that the changes to post offices in the area should not be seen as a downgrading of services.
“These changes are part of major modernisation programme across the post office network designed to make it easier for customers to do business, through longer opening hours and modern open plan environments.”