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City post office will stay put until after Christmas
Peterborough's main city centre post office has been granted a stay of execution – after council officials agreed it could remain at its doomed Corn Exchange base for the time being.
Peterborough's main city centre post office has been granted a stay of execution – after council officials agreed it could remain at its doomed Corn Exchange base for the time being.The crown post office is being forced to move from its current home in Church Street because Peterborough City Council plans to demolish the building.
Its existing tenancy had been due to expire on December 24, but no alternative premises have yet been found and Post Office bosses have warned the city centre could be left temporarily without a main branch as a result.
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But, following discussions with the council, an agreement has been reached to allow the office to remain there beyond its current lease.
Andrew Edwards, the council's head of strategic property, said a new deadline had not been decided but confirmed talks were ongoing to identify a new base.
He said: "We are prepared to give them a little bit more time because we believe they are proceeding well towards finding alternative accommodation.
"It is anticipated that the Post Office will continue to operate out of the Corn Exchange past December 31, 2008, with an end date yet to be agreed."
A war of words broke out between Post Office officials and the city council after proposals were revealed to demolish the Corn Exchange to make way for a public square development.
The Post Office protested it had not been given enough time and assistance to prepare for a relocation, and warned its forced closure could leave customers without its services for months.
In response, the council said it would not allow the city to be deprived of its main post office, but only if the company was making active efforts to secure new premises.
The council's decision to extend the lease appears to have brought at least a temporary ceasefire to the row.
Mr Edwards said: "As we have always said, we are happy to work with the Post Office if we feel they are moving in the right direction which, of course, is what we have done."
As revealed in The Evening Telegraph, the Post Office had been in negotiations about relocating to an empty office unit in Cowgate, only yards away from its existing office, but a spokesman claimed today an alternative site had still not been found.
The spokesman added: "We are hopeful of reaching a satisfactory conclusion to this issue as our goal throughout has been to protect and preserve the crown office for our customers in the city centre.
"We have still not secured suitable premises and remain in discussions with the council about the matter. We would like to resolve this situation as soon as possible to avoid any further worry, anxiety and uncertainty for our customers and our staff."
Liberal Democrat city councillor Darren Fower, who has campaigned for the crown post office to be given more time to relocate, said he welcomed the latest development.
He said: "It's fantastic news and it would seem the pressure from our campaigning has paid off.
"But while I'm happy that people in the city won't now be left without their main post office, until we get a definite location for the new one the matter will not be closed."
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