It’s now a week since the Spar shop closed suddenly. The closure has been covered both by BBC Berkshire and also by the local press. We’ve had quite a mix of responses.
In general the response has been sympathetic towards the staff at the shop over what they have had to put up with over recent months, with plenty more incidents mentioned to us aside from the two high profile overnight burglaries that ultimately led to the closure. A number of people have commented on the lack of security at the shop – for example no security shutters, and also the lack of visibility of the shop and also the ease with which thieves can escape even on foot through the estate.
The response from ESS, the company who runs the shop for the MoD highlights that the on site shop is still open (for those who aren’t aware there is a second shop within the Hazebrouck Barracks), and whilst this is fine for the MoD personell, for the civillian residents this shop is totally inaccessible. The Arborfield Stores has been highlighted as an alternative convenience store, but the key service missing from there for a number of years is a Post Office.
The alternative Post Offices locally are in Barkham, two in Finchampstead and one in Shinfield, however for a number of services such as collecting a parcel the only option is Shinfield Post Office as the other three are in the Wokingham postal area whereas Arborfield comes under Reading. It is important to note that whilst there is no requirement for the Spar to keep operating, the Post Office Code of Practice requires a six week consultation to be carried out before a Post Office is closed or any changes to the service provision are made – this applies equally whether it is a Post Office or a Post Office hosted in a local shop such as the Spar. Details of the process can be found here, along with contact details for who to complain to when the process is not followed. As with many other things everyone needs to write themselves, so if you are concerned about the lack of a Post Office in Arborfield, please contact the post office and ask them why there was no consultation as required by the code of practice.
Several members have highlighted some related points:
- A neighbourhood store is usually required for significant housing developments, but in the case of the recent housing developments around the garrison the now closed Spar store was put forward as an alternative, therefore by moving the shop to a location where civillian residents cannot use the shop the MoD is breaking planning conditions under which they developed houses on former barracks.
- The reorganisation of the local police areas, putting Arborfield in a much larger area has adversely affected policing in Arborfield. In particular the progress our previous PCSO did in reducing anti-social behaviour seems to have been lost.
- We should collect a petition against the closure.
- They’ve allowed the shop to be run down, they were just looking for an excuse to close it.
Hopefully a more formal response to the closure will be forthcoming from our Parish Council and Wokingham Borough Council, but given that the Post Office closure consultation process wasn’t followed, it should never have closed or moved in the first place. We would encourage people to personally complain under that process in the first instance.
Update on the Closure of the Shop
It’s now a week since the Spar shop closed suddenly. The closure has been covered both by BBC Berkshire and also by the local press. We’ve had quite a mix of responses.
In general the response has been sympathetic towards the staff at the shop over what they have had to put up with over recent months, with plenty more incidents mentioned to us aside from the two high profile overnight burglaries that ultimately led to the closure. A number of people have commented on the lack of security at the shop – for example no security shutters, and also the lack of visibility of the shop and also the ease with which thieves can escape even on foot through the estate.
The response from ESS, the company who runs the shop for the MoD highlights that the on site shop is still open (for those who aren’t aware there is a second shop within the Hazebrouck Barracks), and whilst this is fine for the MoD personell, for the civillian residents this shop is totally inaccessible. The Arborfield Stores has been highlighted as an alternative convenience store, but the key service missing from there for a number of years is a Post Office.
The alternative Post Offices locally are in Barkham, two in Finchampstead and one in Shinfield, however for a number of services such as collecting a parcel the only option is Shinfield Post Office as the other three are in the Wokingham postal area whereas Arborfield comes under Reading. It is important to note that whilst there is no requirement for the Spar to keep operating, the Post Office Code of Practice requires a six week consultation to be carried out before a Post Office is closed or any changes to the service provision are made – this applies equally whether it is a Post Office or a Post Office hosted in a local shop such as the Spar. Details of the process can be found here, along with contact details for who to complain to when the process is not followed. As with many other things everyone needs to write themselves, so if you are concerned about the lack of a Post Office in Arborfield, please contact the post office and ask them why there was no consultation as required by the code of practice.
Several members have highlighted some related points:
Hopefully a more formal response to the closure will be forthcoming from our Parish Council and Wokingham Borough Council, but given that the Post Office closure consultation process wasn’t followed, it should never have closed or moved in the first place. We would encourage people to personally complain under that process in the first instance.
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