By Joe McCann
THE future of Bangor Crown Post Office should be known within weeks, it has been revealed.Councillors were told this week that the Post Office will announcing its plans for the Main Street branch and the Crown Post Office in Newtownards by the end of March.Ards and North Down Council officials recently met with representatives of the Post Office and the results of the discussions were revealed to members of the Corporate Services Committee on Tuesday evening.Councillors were told that Bangor Post Office, which employs seven staff and operates 46 hours a week, has seen a 40% drop in usage.Similarly, Newtownards Post Office, also with seven staff and operating 46 hours a week, has experienced a 44% decline in footfall.Crown Post Offices are major branches owned by the Post Office rather than those that are franchised out.Mark Gibson, External Affairs Manager at Post Office NI, said the Post Office is currently reviewing its services, including looking into plans to give Post Masters more control and allocate £120m in support, increasing to £250m by 2050. Results of this review, including the future of the Bangor and Newtownards branches, are expected by mid-March.Bangor councillor Wesley Irvine welcomed the engagement with the Post Office and that it is looking to make a decision around mid-March. “These buildings are strategically placed within Bangor and Newtownards, so the future use of them is absolutely crucial,” he said.Newtownards councillor Steven Irvine said it would be good if Mr Gibson could attend a council meeting to explain any future decisions and to keep everything transparent going forward.DUP Alderman Stephen McIlveen agreed and said he believed Mr Gibson was committed to seeing both branches in Bangor and Newtownards retained. “I believe it would be useful for Mr Gibson to come in to speak to council and I have met him previously with local MP Jim Shannon,” said Mr McIlveen.“Mr Gibson is very keen on retaining the Post Office network and it is a decision that is out of his hands but there are possible solutions and conversations to be had, especially with the unions and also about how we secure those two important sites,” he added.
