Post Office chair insists services will be available
Commissioners in Garff are concerned a new retail strategy to 'modernise' the Isle of Man Post Office will lead to a poorer service in the Laxey branch.
Chairman Jamie Smith says members have concerns that a loss of services will affect local businesses and elderly residents.
It's a view shared by commissioners in Port St Mary, who announced this week they feared the 'wider social implications of the strategy hadn't been fully considered'.
Tynwald approved the post office document in October, which includes a series of measures aimed at making the organisation 'sustainable and financially responsible'.
Critics described the strategy, which could see services stripped back, as 'managed decline', and argued communities would suffer.
The chairman of the Post Office board, Julie Edge MHK, says 96% of residents have been promised an 'access point' within three miles of their homes.
After a meeting earlier this month with the sub-postmaster of the Laxey and Peel post offices, Garff commissioners resolved to write to government expressing their concerns.
Mr Smith says following the meeting, the board is also concerned the National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP) wasn't consulted on the strategy.
He spoke to Local Democracy Reporter Ewan Gawne:
Ms Edge insists the organisation was included in the process, and told Ewan she would be happy to meet with Garff commissioners to discuss their concerns:
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