Fears for town centre amid plans to relocate post office
FEARS are mounting about the effect on Bridgend town centre if the Post Office moves out of its current building in Dunraven Place.
Welsh Conservative Regional AM Suzy Davies, backed by some of the party’s candidates in next year’s council elections, visited the site as part of their campaign to get the Post Office to drop its plans to move the Crown Office into the basement of WH Smith’s shop at the Rhiw Centre.
The Post Office has said the proposal is part of its modernisation plans and a public consultation was due to end on October 5.
Mrs Davies said: “Traders have been fighting for years to get Dunraven Place opened back up to traffic and the pedestrianisation in this part of town reversed.
“That campaign is on the brink of success with the council now considering how this can be achieved.
“But all the good work in making this part of town more accessible will be undone if the post office moves away.”
Candidate Carolyn Webster, who is standing in Newcastle, said that the party had organised a petition last year with traders which was signed by 1,300 people against the continuing pedestrianisation of this part of town.
She said: “Traders in Dunraven Place have been badly hit by declining footfall.
They all agree that allowing people to drive in and park for a limited period, as well as enabling taxis to bring people in, would rejuvenate the town centre.
“The Post Office is a key player here drawing in hundreds of people every day. We also have several banks plus shops, cafes, opticians and dentists which people need to ac- cess. To move the Post Office to a different part of town would be a massive blow to the new town centre strategy.”
Aniel Pucella, who has a gents’ hairdressers in Market Street and who is standing in Brackla next May, said that everyone was concerned about what would happen to the building once the post office moved out.
He added: “This is a large unit and it is hard to think of the type of business that would want to go in and which would also create spin-off for other traders.
“We are hoping that the Post Office will change its mind following the consultation currently underway.”
Suzy Davies: Page 16