Gideon Amos MP has launched a petition calling for the return of a Post Office to Wellington.
The town has been without the facility since 2019 when the One Stop convenience store in High Street, which housed it, closed. The nearest Post Office is now at Rockwell Green.
On Friday, Mr Amos and the Mayor, Cllr Janet Lloyd, officially opened Wellington’s permanent Banking Hub in Fore Street which features the Post Office logo on its signage but does not offer postal services. Meanwhile, the Post Office has announced that it is to operate a ‘Drop & Collect’ service at Wellington Newsagents in Fore Street on January 23rd, but Mr Amos is calling for the return of a full-blown Post Office.
“For a town of 15,000-plus people to be without its own Post Office is absolutely ridiculous and this is one of my top priorities as 2025 gets under way,” he said. “The failure of the government-backed Banking Hub scheme to also provide Post Office services – even though some are run by the Post Office – is a major missed opportunity for communities up and down the country.”
“I know there are a lot of potential challenges and there are different ways of doing it but, having got the Banking Hub, we need a Post Office, whether that’s as part of the Banking Hub by getting government to change the rules and allow us to have a Post Office within it – or we manage to get a Post Office in other premises in the town centre. “One way or another, having got a Banking Hub, we now need to get a Post Office and keep building a better future for Wellington town centre.”
The MP’s petition is being supported by Wellington Town Council.
The Mayor, Cllr Lloyd, said: “As Gideon states, a town the size of Wellington should have a Post Office in the town centre. “The staff at Rockwell Green Post Office offer excellent service and customer care but it is not convenient for many residents as it is not in the centre of the town. At busy times, like Christmas, there are people queuing on the pavement waiting to use the facility. “I also am aware that, since 2019 when the previous Post Office closed, at least two business owners in the town centre have investigated operating a postal service in their premises but the funding given for the services did not make such an option viable.
“As Gideon highlights, expansion of the Cash Access UK Banking Hubs could alleviate and solve this issue.”
The petition, which will go to the Minister for Postal Affairs, Gareth Thomas, is online and you can sign it via this link: https://www.tandwlibdems.org/our-campaigns/post-office-for-wellington