FARNHAM residents have pleaded with Post Office bosses not to close Station Hill and Tilford sub- post offices, but, they believe, their calls have fallen on deaf ears. At a meeting held last Friday, residents from Farnham and Tilford met with Post Office chiefs who will wield the axe on two post offices in The Herald area if, after the end of the six-week consultation period, they are not persuaded that these sites should remain open. The guest list at the post office consultation event, organised by Waverley Borough Council and chaired by councillor David Munro, included MP Jeremy Hunt along with Martine Mumby and Gary Herbert from Post Office Limited. Martine Mumby said: "The Government announced in May 2006 that 2,500 post offices must close. The reason for that is the decline in the number of people using the service. The network has reached breaking point. "We use four criteria in assessing a post office's viability; number of customers, proximity, geography and the size of nearby offices. "We look at the financial saving we will gain by closing the office. If there is not much financial gain in closing it then it may not be worth closing. We also look at demographics and how easy it will be for people to get to the nearby office. "We're not saying it won't cause inconvenience, we know it will, but, if I can offer some hope, not all proposals have gone through. Post offices have been taken off the list before, during and after the consultation period." Gary Herbert said: "We are now into the consultation period and it is important people respond to the consultation. We can make mistakes. Are there things we haven't considered? Everything sent in is read and considered during the six-week consultation period. We have a legal obligation to view all material." Jeremy Hunt thanked the Post Office delegates for facing the angry crowd. He asked the assessors to take into account Farnham as a whole and urged them to think very carefully before closing the post offices, particularly Tilford as it has already made many sacrifices, including only opening four half days a week. Mr Hunt said: "I just have to warn you. People are very cynical about the consultation. They see it as window dressing for decisions which have already been made. I have a huge question mark about how the Government has handled this." Members of the audience also put their questions to the delegates, most of which were about the Tilford branch. Concern was expressed about how pensioners would be able to claim their money if they had not transport as public transport was unreliable and the roads too hazardous to walk. Residents said that history was an important factor and should be taken into consideration when considering closure. They further explained that the Tilford post office was at the heart of the community and that money had been raised to expand the shop, which they believed would increase footfall. Residents also expressed concern about the closure of Station Hill post office explaining that there were already queues at Farnham's central post office due to closures of other branches in the town such as Folly Hill. Parking was also a major issue as there were few places in town where cars could park and these were expensive.
