Councillors Launch Post Office Campaign

Dringhouses & Woodthorpe’s Lib Dem councillors have vowed to fight to save local Post Office services after news broke that the Woodthorpe Post Office counter in the Morrisons Daily store on Moorcroft Road is under threat.

The news comes as a result of a proposal by Morrisons to close a number of its convenience stores locally, including the Woodthorpe store which hosts a Post Office counter.

In an e-mail to Cllr Stephen Fenton, a Morrisons representative said:

“Following a detailed review, the store is being proposed for closure. For context, the store was part of Morrisons acquisition of McColl’s in 2022 and has been loss-making for a sustained period despite concerted effort and investment to improve performance. Rising operating costs in recent years have made it even more difficult to return the store to profitability and we see no viable pathway to achieve this.

“Closure would happen no earlier than Friday 17 July. “

In a statement to the media, Morrisons said “This situation has been exacerbated in more recent years by significant cost increases resulting from Government policy choices, which have made returning these stores to profitability even more difficult.”

This is likely to be a reference to the Labour Government’s decision to increase employers’ National Insurance contributions – otherwise known as the ‘jobs tax’ – which has hit many businesses.

Cllr Stephen Fenton commented “The loss of both the Morrisons store and the Post Office counter would be a real double whammy for local residents. Lib Dem councillors successfully campaigned for Post Office counter services to be reinstated after the former Woodthorpe Post Office closed back in 2019 and we will do so again.

“My focus now is on working with Morrisons and the Post Office to ensure that there is no gap in service and I have called on Morrisons to keep the store open until a new home can be found for the Post Office.

“It is possible that the Morrisons store has been adversely affected by the parking charges introduced on the site by the landowner which has put off some residents from using the car park at the rear of the store for fear of being fined. My colleagues and I led the campaign for the landowner to re-think their approach, with some concessions being made as a result.”

A petition has been set up which residents are invited to sign which seeks to demonstrate support for retaining Post Office services locally. The online petition can be signed at digitallibdems.typeform.com/WoodthorpePO