EARLIER this week I chaired a public meeting to bring together representatives from the Post Office with local residents in Brunswick Town to exchange views on the potential closure of the Western Road Post Office.

This is one stage in a really incredible campaign that has been run by community champions at City Books and the Lansdowne Area Residents Association.

Great campaigns don’t happen by accident, they only happen after huge amount of hard work. Campaigners have demonstrated that Brunswick Town is the most high density residential area in the country with a large number of people with mobility challenges due to age or disability.

The nearest alternative is almost a mile away and involves a significant trek up the hill that is Montpelier Road. The case was also made that our city is defined by its high number of small and micro-businesses that are reliant on Post Office services.

At every pubic meeting I’ve chaired I’ve seen incredible thinking, ideas, or revelations. All were in abundance last night.

In response to a question from Inge at City Books it was revealed that the Post Office lease expired two years ago, fundamentally changing the view that the potential closurecloser is only a recent plan of the Post Office. Some great ideas for generating new business were also produced. My team have captured those and we’ll be working to support campaigners in any way we can going forward.

This is an issue that unites people from all ages and walks of life. The same goes for politicians too and I’ve been very happy to work alongside local councillors Ollie and Phelim. The meeting last night was characterised by passion, some flashes of anger, and a real desire to engage with the Post Office to help them solve their economic challenges whilst remaining part of our community.

The most powerful thing you can do to help is to take just a few minutes to complete the survey on the Post Office Website.

We were told last night that this matters more than anything else, so it would mean the world to all of us if you would follow the link below and use the consultation number: To contribute to the consultation go to postofficeviews.co.uk and enter the code for the branch 01090799.

  • Peter Kyle is the Labour MP for Hove