A people's summit to discuss the future of Southend High Street

This came from an idea by Milton Labour candidate Stephen George. I am very pleased to be involved and to have helped get it off the ground. I will be chairing the meeting. It is intended that we hear the voices of those who reside in or near the High Street. I hope we get a good turnout.

Dereliction-on-Sea

These photographs were taken yesterday. This is a snapshot of the High Street in Southend-on-Sea.

These are empty shops, and indicates the woeful state of the High Street and its clearly evident decline.

This is not a comprehensive illustration of what is lying empty, and I certainly did not wander down the adjacent streets - which would have doubtless added to this miserable collection.

Southend-on-Sea Crown Post Office proposed move

There is a proposal to move the Post Office in the High Street into W H Smith, a geographical relocation of two doors away.

On the surface this may not appear to be the cause of much disruption. As can be seen from the photograph here, they both currently occupy the same block. Customers of the Post Office will not be forced into making a more difficult journey because of this proposal.

Almost side by side - the Post Office and W H Smith at the moment

However, there are some potential concerns. Will sharing with a commercial enterprise mean impact on the service currently being delivered by the Post Office? Will the new premises, and the obvious accommodation compromises that will have to be made, make for conflict between the two businesses? Will those collecting pensions, etc, feel under pressure to spend? Will the joint premises be able to accommodate the likely increase in footfall?

There is an ongoing consultation process. This was sent me last week :

I am contacting you to let you know that we’re proposing to move Southend-on-Sea Crown Post Office to the WHSmith store at 207 High Street, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1LN.  This move is part of our ongoing modernisation of the Post Office network and will allow us to maintain a Crown Post Office in Southend-on-Sea while providing a new modern branch for our customers from a bright new environment.  If the move goes ahead the branch would continue to be run and staffed by Post Office Ltd with the existing branch team from within the WHSmith store.

The following was sent to me today:

Following on from  recent correspondence regarding our proposal for Southend on Sea Crown Post Office, I am contacting you to advise that Post Office Ltd have arranged a customer forum. The customer forum is a drop in event for local residents, businesses, customers and stakeholders to share their views on the Post Office proposal and also provides an opportunity to talk to a representative from the Post Office and ask us any questions.

We would like to invite you  to the customer forum which will take place on 6^th September at the University of Essex Southend Campus, Gateway Building, Elmer Approach , Southend-on-Sea , SS1 1LW.

The event runs  from 4.00pm to 7.00pm and people are welcome to drop in at any time throughout the session.

Please feel free to share this information  with anyone that may have an interest in attending,

I would encourage all to have their say.

The online consultation can be found here.