Open letter to Glenn Chester, Regional Post office Contracts Manager

We are writing to you about the future of the Bradshaw Post Office which serves the whole of the Bradshaw and Harwood communities.

As you will be aware, the current Post Master, Musa Patel, who has served our community well, is retiring in May and it is hoped that a new post master will take charge without the office closing at any time.

We are aware that there is an experienced person hoping to take over after considering the business viability.

This person has spoken to us and he has indicated his willingness to take over.

Both our residents and we as local councillors are much concerned about the future of this local amenity.

The Post Office branch is very important to the lives of the residents. It is essential that it remains open providing the vital services necessary for the local community.

It also serves as a focus point for the whole area, raising the profile of the services which the post office provides.

Among the many customers of the branch are:

• Elderly residents who walk to the branch

• Suffering from age related illness

• Disabled or have little mobility

• People that find it difficult to travel very far

• Residents that visit the branch whilst shopping at Morrison’s supermarket

• Locals who are unable by age, mobility and lack of suitable transport facilities to travel distances to alternative branches.

We feel that with suitable marketing which the person interested would be willing to undertake that there is substantial scope for increasing the volume of business in the branch. With a population of approximately 12,000 residents (Census 2011) there is huge

scope to attract customers to utilise the branch and make it viable for the long term.

The other branches which are closest, namely the New Lane branch, Ainsworth branch, Bromley Cross branch, Ramsbottom branch and Tonge Moor Road branch, are simply too far and too difficult for these residents to travel access.

As a positive start, we have placed an article inside our newsletter regarding Bradshaw Post Office, which will be delivered to

every resident in Bradshaw and Harwood.

The Bradshaw and Harwood post office encourages this group of residents to come out of their homes. If there was no post office here, some residents would simply stay at home and be isolated from the wider community.

We fully back the campaign to keep this branch open for years to come and will encourage local residents to use it or lose it.

Cllr Mudasir Dean

Cllr Stuart Haslam

Cllr Jackie Radcliffe