THERE is “no decision” yet over the future of Caernarfon’s town centre Post Office, bosses have said.
It comes after a 1,633 strong petition was presented in Westminster calling for the branch to be saved.
The Post Office recently confirmed it could close up to 115 branches, with the Caernarfon site among those affected.
The locations earmarked for potential closure are the last remaining sites that are directly owned by the Post Office, known as Crown Post Offices branches.
The Post Office has said it is “considering a range of options” to reduce central costs, and said some of the at-risk branches could end up being franchised to a retailer or independent postmaster.
During a meeting on Monday, Post Office chairman Nigel Railton was handed the signed petition by Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts.
The petition was created by Liz Saville Roberts MP, Arfon MS Siân Gwenllian, Gwynedd Councillor Cai Larsen, and North Wales MS Llyr Gruffydd.
The Post Office has since said “no decisions” have yet been made.
The threat to Caernarfon’s Post Office comes after a separate cut to a number of services in rural parts of Gwynedd, which followed the resignation of Criccieth Post Office’s postmaster.
Ms Saville Roberts said: “First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who has added their voice to the campaign calling on the Post Office to safeguard face-to-face services in Caernarfon.
“It is blatantly clear that local people want to see over-the-counter services maintained in the town.
“People place immense value on the convenience of being able to pop into their local Post Office branch, whether for their personal or business needs.
“With the loss of high street banking, the Post Office in Caernarfon remains one of the few accessible places for local banking services.
“The Post Office is first and foremost a public service, yet there seems to have been little in the way of public engagement or strategic planning where branches need to be guaranteed.
“I present this petition in the hope that collective pressure on the Post Office leads to a positive, long-term outcome for the community – one which puts the needs of local customers first.”
A Post Office spokesperson said: “Our Post Office Chair, Nigel Railton, accepted a petition re Caernarfon Post Office, which is one of our Directly Manged Branches (DMB) and listened to concerns from the local MP Liz Saville Roberts about rural Post Office services in the constituency.
“Post Office has launched a new, five-year transformation plan that will deliver a new deal for postmasters, putting them at the heart of the business.
“To realise the plan, Post Office is considering a range of initiatives to boost revenue, drive efficiency and reduce costs.
“As part of this process, we are considering the future of our DMBs, which are loss making. However, no decisions have been made on any DMBs including Caernarfon.
“We invited expressions of interest to operate Post Offices in all our remaining DMB locations to gauge market interest and explore whether franchising could be a viable option.
“We are reviewing all responses, then will sharing the results with relevant trade unions and other stakeholders.
“We want to ensure that we make the best decisions for the future of each of our DMBs, helping to strengthen the network for the benefit of customers and postmasters.”
The Post Office added that following the resignation of the postmaster at Criccieth, they had not yet received any expressions of interest, and said they “would like to hear from retailers”.
