Dreadful news – according to the Ham&High the England’s Lane sub post office is on the government’s latest hit list of post offices earmarked for closure. It goes without saying that this is a real kick in the teeth for Belsize. We’ve already lost the sub-post offices in Belsize Village and on Haverstock Hill.
The government just does not seem to understand that post offices are, for most people, a crucial pillar of their communities and, for some, an absolute lifeline. We will be running a “Save Our Post Office” petition stall this Saturday morning in England’s Lane so please come along and register your support. You could also email the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, to express your outrage – darlinga@parliament.uk .
What with that and the fire at Camden Market it’s been a tough week. Media reports suggested most of the market was hit, but the only area that was actually affected was the Canal Street Market, on the corner of Chalk Farm Road and Hawley Road. The fire has badly damaged the Hawley Arms pub, six shops and the flats above them in Chalk Farm Road. Around 90 market stalls were damaged, 35 of them extensively. Unfortunately a large number of stallholders have no insurance so the market operator, Camden Market Holdings (CMH), has set up a hardship fund. The Council will work with CMH to re-establish the Canal Street Market as soon as possible. The rest of the market will be open for business as usual this weekend.
On Wednesday night we - the Camden Lib Dems - put up heart-shaped banners on lamp posts in Belsize and South End Green to draw attention to the fact that the government is threatening to close the post offices in these communities. The aim was to leave them up throughout Valentine's Day and then take them down. However by 9am in the morning Council officers had taken them all down claiming that we were fly posting! Since when was fly posting for commercial gain the same as alerting the community to the possible loss of an essential service? It's bureaucracy gone mad.
