2,700 signed petition for Post Office services in Marazion

The mayor of Marazion William Collins, local residents and business owners, along with politicians and councillors from across the parties, joined on Friday to hand a 2,787-signature petition to the area manager of Post Office Ltd.

It calls for a mobile post office service to be provided to the community for at least one hour a week.

Last year, following the shop being put up for sale and the ongoing Horizon scandal, the owners of Cobble Corner - which had hosted a Post Office counter since Marazion’s branch closed in 2012 - decided to pull down the shutters and close for good.

Since then, an online and written petition was set up asking residents, businesses and visitors to lend their support in asking for a fraction of the services that once served the town.

They pointed out that Newlyn currently gets three hours and 45 minutes of postal services twice a week, while Mousehole gets 75 minutes a week.

As such, getting Marazion Town Council believes that the Post Office should provide similar services to their town, explaining: “Mousehole has half the population of Marazion, and both villages have far fewer than the estimated 350,000 tourists that visit Marazion and St Michael’s Mount each year. “

The group gathered outside Cobble Corner (Image: Marazion Town Council)

Previously the Post Office has told Marazion that their policy is to only add mobile services to areas that are not within two miles of another post office – but the town council said that Newlyn is just 0.9 miles away from both a post office and a sorting office, thereby “debunking their claim.”

Marazion’s mayor William Collins said: “The elderly and the most vulnerable are the people who are least likely to have easy access to transport and yet are the most likely to use Post Office services.

“Given the Horizon scandal, you would have thought the Post Office would bend over backwards to try and improve their reputation with local people in any way that it could think of.

“Offering postal services to Marazion would be a perfect step to trying to improve the damaged Post Office brand.”

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Conservative MP for West Cornwall Derek Thomas and Liberal Democrat Cornwall councillor for the area John Martin joined Mr Collins and 83-year-old resident David Walsh, who set up the petition, to present the list of signatures to Cathryn Gee, area manager for the Post Office Ltd, outside Cobble Corner.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Walsh said: “For anyone in Marazion without a car, the journey to use Post Office services can take almost two hours.

“It is stupid that Newlyn and Mousehole can get better access to Post Office facilities when Marazion has a larger population than Mousehole and more people visiting than Newlyn.

“The Post Office should think long, hard and then act on giving Marazion a post office in some form.”

The town’s Cornwall councillor John Martin congratulated Mr Walsh and the town council for its initiative, saying: “Congratulations to David and Marazion Town Council, and the local community, for leading the campaign and petition to try and secure Post office services for the town.

“A town of this size and importance in West Cornwall needs good access to the Post Office. It is essential for all ages, not just the elderly. I will continue to help lobby for at least the mobile service to be introduced."