The Sturry Post office, located in Paydens Pharmacy in Sturry High Street is to be closed in November. This is a commercial decision, and Paydens are also closing/have closed other Post Offices in their premises through Kent.
There has been no consultation over this decision and local residents will be faced with having to travel to alternative Post Offices. Sturry Post Office has been popular with locals and many small businesses in the area. We do not want to lose this facility, especially as more people are moving into the area.
Here’s what we can do...
Write to:
Mr Alexander Pay
Paydens Limited
Parkwood
Sutton Road
Maidstone
ME15 5NE
contact@paydens.com
alexander.pay@paydens.com (unverified)
Mr Simon Thompson
The Post Office
185 Farringdon Road
London
EC1A 1AA
ceo.office@royalmail.com
Ms Rosie Duffield MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
rosie.duffield.mp@parliament.uk
Email our parish councillors
The link can be found here
If you are willing to help gathering signatures for a petition please contact Terry Simmons, tme.simmons@btinternet.com
Here is the letter sent to Paydens by councilor Louise Harvey-Quirke
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am contacting you today regarding the Paydens Sturry pharmacy and the proposal to close the post office, which is currently located within the store.
I am aware that the decision to remove the post office has not been taken lightly. Nonetheless, in making this decision, you will directly impact upon the lives of my residents, and I would be doing them a considerable disservice if I did not reach out to you and make a plea to save the post office from closure.
To add some context; over the years, Sturry has lost many local shops, resulting in the decline of Sturry High Street. In removing yet another vital service, local residents will be forced to live in an area that is becoming unsustainable. They will only be able to reach local services by a car or bus, which I’m sure you will agree is not ideal. We will see more cars on our small, rural roads, which are already heavily congested.
Additionally, Sturry has a lot of elderly residents living in the immediate locality of your store, based at Franklyn House and the surrounding properties. They heavily rely on both the post office and pharmacy in their everyday lives, and as some of these residents are not in a position to use a bus or car, removing one of these vital services will be devastating for them and the other vulnerable residents within the community.
Finally, the remaining shops and other small businesses in the area rely on the community post office for local resources and links to other services.
As a local person and the local councillor, I find the suggestion of removing the post office deeply upsetting. This is a facility that residents have always benefited from, and to think of it being stripped from us fills me with great sadness. While I am aware that Post Office LTD could relocate, I am not aware of a facility that could accommodate them at this time.
I have been contacted by several residents, who share the same feelings as I. The desire to save the post office from closure is strong within the community. Therefore, I would be delighted if you would reconsider your decision to close Sturry post office and would be happy to discuss this further with you.
Thank you for taking the time to read my email. I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards
Louise Harvey-Quirke
The Sheriff of Canterbury
Sturry Ward Councillor
Here is a response from Paydens sent out to Sabora member Penny Clifford
Received from Paydens today
Thank you for your email.
The decision to close the Post Office within the pharmacy was not taken lightly and the Post Office have been given 12 months notice to allow them time to find alternative premises in Sturry.
Customer behaviour has significantly changed since we first opened the Post Office, and unfortunately this means that it is no longer financially viable for us to continue to operate the Post Office service.
In addition the Government are placing new requirements on pharmacies to provide additional services to support and compliment other local healthcare providers whilst also imposing significant cuts to pharmacy funding. This has placed all pharmacies under significant financial pressure and we need to focus all of our efforts on supporting the growing demands placed on us.
Our Post Office Teams have all worked extremely hard and we are grateful for their service and commitment but as I hope you would appreciate we have to concentrate on our core business to provide essential pharmacy services to the community.
Best regards
Alison
On behalf of Paydens Ltd
PAYDENS LTD
Unit 1, Wallis Ave, Parkwood, Maidstone ME15 9NE
contact@paydens.com
It is apparent that Paydens will not change their mind, and perhaps the best course of action would be to find a new location/business willing to host this essential service. What do you think?
