Post Office chiefs have apologised to Kirriemuir over the recent fiasco surrounding local counter provision.
As the Reform Street branch reopened on Thursday following its stop-start operation after a sudden and unexpected closure a fortnight ago, representatives told a packed meeting of the town’s community the company was committed to Kirriemuir.
The PO officials were quizzed about plans to relocate the Reform Street facility to a town centre newsagent and, while locals continued to highlight a range of concerns, there was a call from others at the meeting to get behind the new plan to ensure services remain in the town.
The PO figures denied that the move to Thistle News and Gifts is a “done deal”, but admitted that the opportunity to take on the franchise had only been looked at by two potential business people, one of whom had dropped out of the running.
Following what is understood to have been an audit of the Reform Street branch, the decision was taken to temporarily close the doors.
The Post Office then encountered problems with the planned reopening, but Voluntary Action Angus stepped in to provide twice-daily transport to branches in Westmuir and Kirriemuir to ensure customers could still access post office services including pensions.
“We would like to apologise for the unexpected temporary closure, it was for reasons completely unforeseen and completely outwith our control,” said PO representative Linda Bonar.
It was explained to the Kirriemuir meeting that agency branches are operated by the postmaster as their own business.
The current operator, they said, had asked to leave and that had led to the search for a new business to take up the Kirrie opportunity, and the resulting consultation, which has been extended into the middle of next month as a result of the situation at the Reform Street branch.
The PO figures said the proposed location had been assessed on a number of criteria and the firm thought it was a suitable site for a new branch.
One resident disagreed, however, saying: “This is a very small shop in a town of 8,000 people and growing, the parking is negligible and there are dangerous cobbles outside it.
“It’s the wrong place at the wrong time. If there is only one applicant for the job this looks as if it is a done deal,” he said.
Ms Bonar said that was not the case, and if the proposed relocation did not take place then the Post Office would advertise the franchise opportunity again.
“We have looked at the footfall and the customer patterns and all that has been taken into account in the planning stages,” she said.
The proposal is a local model and the PO figures said the aim was to provide two positions giving a more streamlined system, with longer opening hours.
“It is completely natural that people have objections, but what we are finding is that once these branches are relocated the customer satisfaction rates are very high. It is about 97% which is a very high figure we have made a commitment to keep branches in towns like Kirriemuir.”
One town centre business owner said it was crucial to see facilities such as a post office retained.
“If we lose the post office then we will watch our town die,” she told the meeting.
Another supporter said: “This is another opportunity for a business to stay in Kirriemuir. It should be great for them and it should be great for us to keep the post office and I don’t think we should be saying it won’t work.”