Sudden Woodthorpe Post Office closure

Cllr Ashley Mason outside the closed Woodthorpe Post Office

Councillor calls for services to be restored

Local Liberal Democrat Councillor Ashley Mason is calling on Post Office bosses to move quickly to restore counter services at Woodthorpe Post Office.

Counter services at the Post Office were withdrawn suddenly last week, with rumours circulating locally that the counter will be closed for five weeks. Liberal Democrat Councillors for Dringhouses & Woodthorpe contacted the Post Office late last week to request an update, and they have received the following statement:

“I can confirm that this branch has been closed on a temporary basis due to circumstances outside of Post Office Ltd’s control. We can’t disclose any further details about the closure as this information is private and confidential, and I’m unable to confirm when the branch will re-open, I can however assure you that our internal teams are working to minimise this disruption in service as much as possible.”

Cllr Ashley Mason, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Dringhouses & Woodthorpe, commented:

“The local Post Office is a real lifeline for many local people, particularly older residents, who would otherwise struggle to get to other branches in Acomb or Dringhouses.”

“This closure, however temporary it may be, couldn’t have come at a worse time, with many people wanting to send Christmas cards overseas or parcels to friends and family.”

“I am calling on the Post Office to restore counter services as quickly as possible

 

New Westfield school kitchen opens

Pupils at Westfield Primary School in York will taste the first meals from their brand new kitchen and dining room this week following an £650,000 refit.

The school kitchen and dining room have undergone an ambitious refurbishment, turning a tired and dysfunctional space into an efficient facility where staff can prepare nutritious lunches for the x pupils.

Cllr Andrew Waller, Deputy Leader and Executive Member for the Environment, City of York Council, said: “This has been a major refurbishment scheme for the school and so pleased that the staff, students and community will now get the opportunity to reap the rewards of all the hard work as a One Planet York project.”

The kitchen and dining refurbishment at Westfield Primary school was to completely change two very large connected spaces that were bowing under the weight of their inefficiency.  The only way to solve the problems was to take a holistic One Planet approach and transform all aspects of these areas from the roofs down.

The result is one where we can say that energy efficiency has been truly optimised:

Westfield school

The leaking roofs over the dining room and kitchen have been entirely recovered;

Insulation has been installed between the roof spaces;

Suspended ceilings now provide warmth along with acoustic cushioning;

Tired single glazing has been replaced by new double glazed windows;

LED lighting has been installed throughout which will make a huge difference to the reduction of electrical output;

The kitchen has been completely re designed, reducing clutter and making the kitchen operation slicker;

New energy efficient kitchen equipment has been installed, reducing cooking times and streamlining food production whilst maintaining the already high standard of nutrition;

A new servery now makes queuing for meals a faster operation whilst allowing the pupils to see the food as it is being served;

School staff now have the space to guide pupils in and out of the queue to new dining tables;

This project has made Westfield Primary’s kitchen and dining areas enviably sustainable for many years to come

Closure of Lendal Post Office gets mixed response

A local MPs reaction, to news that Post-Office services will be transferred about 200 metres to a site within W H Smiths on Coney Street, has provoked a mixed reaction. A photo of a local Councillor giving the clench fist salute at an anti-Post Office street rally, raised concerns that this might be the precursor to barricades being erected in the streets, accompanied by loud singing of the “Internationale”

The MP was pictured pasting a “protestcard” in a dummy pillar box (apparently oblivious to the fact the Royal Mail has been a separate business for many years).

But she may have a point.

The Post Office’s “on line” consultation seems to be less than transparent. It refers to the introduction of 7 day a week services at the new site (good) but singularly fails to say what services will be provided there.

Lendal Post Office

It merely says

 “A wide range of services would still be available at the (new) branch”.

So not all services will transfer then?

We have written to the Post Office asking them to clarify which services, currently provided at the Lendal office, will not be available at the Smiths branch, and where the nearest alternative customer access point is located?

Without this information, customers can’t possibly respond to the Post Office questionnaire which asks whether people will be inconvenienced by the move.

We have also asked the Post Office to provide quality of service stats for their present Lendal operation.

For example, mean and maximum queuing times?

We think that the Post Office should also publish customer quality of service targets for any new branch.

WHSmith

If they don’t provide more information, then we may have to look out an old songbook.

How does it go,

This is our final and decisive battle;
With the Internationale humanity will rise up!

..although possibly, being York, that might only involve a slightly heated exchange on “twitter”?