THE EFFORTS being made to save Wokingham’s town centre Post Office took a dramatic twist on Thursday (November 22) after councillors disagreed on how best to prevent its move to WHSmith, a proposal suggested in October as part of plans to relocate 74 Post Offices to nearby WHSmith stores.

Labour councillor Rachel Burgess proposed a motion at a full council meeting suggesting the council opposes the closure of the Post Office and its move to Market Place, but Liberal Democrats councillor Clive Jones submitted an amendment which was approved after Liberal Democrats and Conservative members voted together to see it through.

Councillor Clive Jones said: “I was delighted that my proposal calling for Wokingham Borough Council to demand that the Post Office guarantees services are maintained if the Post Office moves to WHSmith was agreed by the council.

“I'm grateful for the support from Cllr Pauline Jorgensen acting Leader of the Conservative group and the Conservative councillors who also want to see Post Office services to our residents maintained.

"I was staggered that the Labour councillors didn't support the proposal. It's sad that Labour prefer to play politics rather than give the motion unanimous support from the council".

"As I pointed out during the debate, my amendment was much stronger than the original proposed by the Labour party. They should have supported this because it's very clear, if we don't get the guarantees we are seeking, the council will write to the Post Office requesting that the proposal to move to WHSmith is abandoned.

"Our amendment very clearly states that; "Unless the Post Office provides guarantees on disabled access, jobs and the quality and scope of services including the ability to collect parcels currently provided by the Royal Mail in the existing building, this council will write to the Post Office calling for the abandonment of plans to franchise Wokingham’s Post Office to WH Smith and will call on John Redwood MP to write to the Minister for the Post Office to request that this proposal be abandoned".

"I have sent a copy of the amended motion to senior managers at the Post Office so they are in no doubt where the majority of Wokingham Borough Councillors stand".

The original motion concluded by reading: “This council will write to the Post Office calling for the abandonment of plans to franchise Wokingham’s Post Office to WH Smith and calls on John Redwood MP to write to the Minister for the Post Office to request that this proposal to be abandoned”.

However Labour councillor Rachel Burgess hit back, saying: “The Lib Dems’ hostile amendment to my motion destroyed the motion’s meaning and purpose.

“All the amendments made by the Lib Dems were either ill-informed, incorrect or served to make the motion meaningless.

“No attempt had been made by the Lib Dems to contact me beforehand to agree a revised wording.

“They had printed out copies of the amendment in advance of the meeting and could easily have given me a copy at the outset. The amendment was not designed to improve it – in fact it did the precise opposite.”

“The amended motion makes impossible demands that we know the Post Office can’t meet.

“It states that, before any action is taken by the council, the Post Office must provide guarantees that they cannot possibly give. In an astonishing display of ignorance, the amended motion asks the Post Office to guarantee parcel collection in the existing building – this is patently ludicrous as the Post Office has nothing to do with parcel collection and does not own that building – parcel collection is part of Royal Mail which is a completely separate entity from the Post Office.

“Currently there is no consultation planned on whether the Post Office should be closed. The Lib Dem amendment confuses this issue.

“My motion was clear – we need to act now – and I’m glad Cllr Munro recognised this. The Lib Dem amendment states that the council ‘will oppose’ the franchise at some point in the future. They give no mechanisms or timelines for action whatsoever.

“Put simply, the amended motion creates the illusion of activity – but the amended motion alone is likely to result in nothing but inaction. In contrast Wokingham Labour’s petition on the Post Office continues to attract signatures and we will be campaigning hard on behalf of Wokingham residents to keep the Post Office where it belongs.”

Wokingham Labour claim hundreds of people have already signed a petition demanding the Post Office is saved, including two executive members of the council.

Cllr Burgess added: “I was very pleased to hear Cllr Munro’s support for retaining our Crown Post Office. His response to a resident’s question on the subject clearly put the interests of the town first. I was also pleased that Cllr Mirfin will be writing to the Post Office to ask them to reconsider their decision to relocate the Post Office, and that the council will be writing John Redwood about this matter.”