Officially Stockport is now Manchester!

Published in Stockport Express on Wed 1st Apr 2009

Over the years I have fought hard for some signs of commonsense from the Royal Mail and the Post Office as they closed down sub-post offices, and cut back on the services that those that remain could provide.

It has been an uphill struggle, and whenever there's a victory, like the rescue of the vital Post Office Card Account, they think of something else to put us back to square one. Now Royal Mail have come up with a real beauty - they are going to abolish the Stockport postmark, and let us all be Manchester instead.

In their minds cost and centralisation nearly always trumps convenience and public service. That's why Stockport has lost over two dozen Post Offices in the last 15 years. That's why the first delivery of post now comes when the second was due. And there isn't a second delivery to get in the way, either.

Their latest plan puts the Mail Distribution Office in Hazel Grove under threat, and sends the Stockport Sorting Office to Manchester.

All bonkers, of course, making mail delivery journeys longer and slower, not to mention putting posties' jobs at risk. But to make it worse and to add insult to injury, if the Sorting Office moves, Stockport's postmark will go too.

I wrote to Adam Crozier, Chief Executive of Royal Mail, and protested about the move - and I asked for an assurance that if that move to Manchester did go ahead then at least he would guarantee that our letters and cards would still get a Stockport postmark on them.

That's when it leaked out - the Royal Mail's reply says it just wouldn't be worth the hassle to keep the postmark, and we are all to be stamped with Manchester instead!

Not everyone likes the Stockport postmark anyway - plenty of people in my area would like to be 'Cheshire'. But I don't think too many will be happy to be put in Manchester instead!

Stockport is a proud Borough, with a strong identity, and the abolition of our postmark is outrageous. And to sneak it out casually in such a back-hand way with no formal notice to anyone is not just thoughtless, it shows a disregard for the public the Royal Mail 'serves' that is breathtaking.

Mark Hunter MP and I have tabled a motion in Parliament calling for a Royal Mail rethink - and I am sure many Stockport Express readers will join us in condemning what must be just about their most stupid decision since their last stupid decision.

Andrew