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Lynne Read
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Sunday 20 January 2008 12:00:12 pm
SHAME ON THE POST OFFICE - Proposed closure of Spittal Post Office
The closure of Spittal Post Office will have a devastating affect on the lives of local residents. An elderly resident collects two pensions per week from the village post office and is also able to top-up his mobile telephone from the office. The Post Office also provides the service which allows him to purchase electricity for his key meter.
The closure of this office will be devastating for him, an elderly gentleman in his late 70’s. He has no transport and the school bus arrives at 8.00am, returning at 4.00pm. This is the only means of public transport to the next nearest Post Office, which is in Halkirk, some 5 miles away.
To travel by taxi, costs £12 and the service is such that on many occasions, he has had to wait for over 2 hours, or been told that one is not available to come out to Spittal.
Spittal is a village on the main A9 route to Thurso. This Post Office serves not only the people who live in the village but people travelling past, who stop next door at the garage. The Spittal Post Office is the local office to the villages of Mybster, Dunn, Georgemas, Harpsdale, plus the rest of the Causewaymire (A9) from Latheron.
There are also a number of Commercial premises in Spittal. These businesses as well as their staff will be without access to a Post Office nearby.
Caithness Stone Industries
A & D Sutherland Quarry
Edgemoor Filling Station
Food for Thought
Spittal Mains Farm
Causewaymire Wind Farm
I, myself work from home as an Outreach worker, working with people with disabilities. I regularly need to send mail and use the services of this Post Office.
The Post Office are saying that 3 closures must be made in the Highlands. Then Spittal Post Office should be a higher priority area than Westerdale, Gillock and Dounreay. The Post Office within Dounreay is not even known to many employees. All these employees are of eligible age and have the ability to work, unlike many of the local residents of Spittal, some who have fought for their country and yet are treated with contempt on this occasion by the PO. The villages of Westerdale and Gillock have fewer residents than Spittal. This Gillock Office is inside the Builders' Merchants, and is used in the main by customers who have driven to the store. All of these customers could easily use their local Post Office. The Gillock Post Office is not even listed on the 'find your post office' website. Is that how it 'slipped the net' for closure? It is so insignificant that the website cannot find Gillock!
Apologies to the residents of Westerdale and Gillock. If it were your offices that were facing closure, I would support you. However, I believe the office in Spittal serves a greater number of local residents. Spittal Post Office is a full-time post. This would not be so, unless it was much needed.
On the Post Office PDF download, Spittal residents are being re-directed to use Westerdale Post Office! A four and a half mile walk across the moor. Has anyone from the Post Office actually visited the area? At least Spittal Post Office has a garage next door where groceries can be purchased. The PDF also states there is a bus stop outside Spittal Post Office. This sounds very convenient, so we can all reach the post office at Halkirk. If you arrive early in July, you only have to wait 6 weeks until the next school bus arrives towards the end of August!!! If it wasn't so horrendous, it would be amusing. THIS IS AFFECTING REAL PEOPLE'S LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS. SHAME ON THE POST OFFICE.
Lynne Read
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Derek Read
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Sunday 20 January 2008 12:43:31 pm
Spittal Post Office
It's a wonderful little place, very friendly, with a lovely lady in there, always does you a lot of favours and it's just a nice Post Office. A very friendly Post Office. The closure will affect me quite a lot, in as much as it's gonna cost me £12 to go and get my pension. Things like that. I'll have to go to another Post Office which is miles away. Too far to walk. Well, for me, anyway. Now.
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vicky jones
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Monday 21 January 2008 4:15:19 pm
Spittal Post Office Closure
Having lived in Spittal for many years, it will be very sad to see the closure of this post office, being a small community it is highly used by the locals, I myself having 2 children - one is a toddler, how am i supposed to travel to Halkirk to collect my weekly money and to also pay for my electricity. Not being a driver i am unable to walk along the busy road with a pushchair to the next nearest post office.
It is reccommended by The Post Office that everyone should be within 3 miles from a post office (on a crows route), i will be five miles from the nearest Post Office, if Spittal is closed, and the crows route is through many fields which is private land, but also an impossible journey with a pushchair.
If i was to pay for a taxi, by the time i pay that i will only have pennies left for my weekly shopping.
Please please dont close our Post Office.
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barry jones
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Monday 21 January 2008 4:30:52 pm
Save Our Post Office
Please Please DONT close our Post Office, this small store is highly needed for many locals. This is a friendly service which is much needed for the community. Where will the pensioners go for their pensions? They certainly cant travel all those miles to Halkirk. If it is closed, will there be a Bus Service set up so that we arent stranded in the village, the present Bus Service is The School Bus, which only runs in Term Time, and to go out in the morning and not come home until the evening is a very long day out.
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Heather Pownall
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Monday 21 January 2008 8:49:57 pm
Don't Close our Post Office
It is madness to close the post office. Like others have said what about the elderly getting their pensions, buying stamps, posting letters and parcels, and seeing a friendly familiar face. The young mums who have no transport rely on this post office. What is the world coming to... SAVE OUR POST OFFICE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Nicola Simpson
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Thursday 07 February 2008 4:38:00 pm
closure of Spittal Post Office
I have been associated with Spittal for over 10 years. Whilst I lived in the area I always made full use of the local post office not only to purchase stamps but also to pay my bills, I couldn't drive and can understand how it would be IMPOSSIBLE for the majority of local residents to not be able to survive without the Post Office. The bus service is not actually a public service for all the community it is known as the Dounreay bus and the School bus. Therefore if you do not work at Dounreay or go to school you are actually expected to be out of your home for most of the day to wait for the return journey! When there is bad weather, school closures and school holiday periods there are no buses, how does the post office expect anyone to get to the post office? WALK is the answer, I'm sure the person making the final descision as to which post office they are going to close has probably NEVER been to CAITHNESS let alone SPITTAL. I suggest they come to stay in Spittal for one month without a vehicle and an electric key meter for their only power supply and see how they get on, March would be good, easter is known for bad weather and the schools are closed. Living without the Post Office; no vehicle, bad weather, school closed, no bus, no money, no electricity to heat your home and cannot pay for any of your other bills. This would be the real life for most of the residents of Spittal without a Post Office, it's ridiculus to even suggest such a thing!
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