THE Post Office has at long last launched a consultation on plans to relocate Farnham’s main West Street branch to WHSmith in The Borough.

It was announced last October that the Farnham branch was one of 40 nationwide earmarked to close and relocate to a WHSmith store – subject to a six-week public consultation.

This process has now begun, and the views of the public are being sought until March 6, with the Post Office proposing to open the new branch in June 2019.

The Herald understands staff were informed of the consultation on Tuesday, January 22, with the management of the branch also set to switch to the Post Office’s “retail partner” WHSmith.

The Post Office says the new branch will “secure its services for customers for the long term”, boasting longer opening hours, including Saturday afternoon and Sunday opening.

The company’s network and sales director Roger Gale said: “The vast majority of our 11,500 Post Offices, large and small, are successfully operated on a franchise basis with retail partners. We believe this is the best approach to keeping Post Offices in main shopping locations and at the heart of communities where they play an important role in local economies.”

Under the proposals, services will include everyday banking for the UK’s high-street banks, online shopping returns and collections and foreign exchange.

The Post Office would be in a “dedicated area” of WHSmith with three serving positions, one screened and two open plan.

Additionally, there will be two self-service kiosks for mails transactions including home shopping returns, E Top-Ups, and a range of bill payments.

This largely replicates the branch’s existing level of service – with the notable exception of its cash machine.

Mr Gale added: “We believe our proposal is the most effective way to secure the long-term viability of Post Office services for years to come.”

Views and comments can be provided online at postofficeviews.co.uk, by emailing [email protected] or by post to: Freepost Your Comments .

In particular, the Post Office is asking for comments on:

? How easy is it to get to the proposed new location? 

? Are the new premises easy to get into and are they easily accessible once inside?

? Are there any other local community issues which you believe could be affected by or affect the proposed move?

? If the move were to proceed is there anything it could do to make it easier for customers?

The Post Office’s consultations have been questioned in other parts of the country, however, amid accusations that relocations have already been decided before asking the public for their views.

Just this week, the leader of Crawley council Peter Lamb called the Post Office’s consultation “a sham” after the company confirmed the town’s branch would be moving to a WHSmith, adding: “None of the access issues is resolved and numerous other concerns were brushed off.”

Contributing to a sense that history is repeating itself in Farnham, the Herald was informed, not by the Post Office, but by councillors that the consultation had been launched on Wednesday last week – with the Post Office confirming this only when prompted.

In addition, when responding to the Herald’s query as to why the two post boxes on the external wall of the West Street branch had been boarded up earlier this month, a spokesman for Royal Mail initially said these would not be reopened “given the proposals to move the branch to WHSmith” – only to later backtrack, claiming the post boxes had in fact been closed “due to damage”.

It also comes after Farnham Residents councillors George Hesse submitted a petition to the Post Office in December, signed by 1,866 people objecting to the relocation.