Move to reopen city post offices

The two branches were closed in November 2008

Two Sheffield post offices which have closed could reopen by the spring.

The council wants to invest £500,000 in reopening the Norfolk Park branch in Park Grange Road and the Nether Green post office in Oakbrook Road.

The post offices were among thousands across the UK which closed in a restructuring move by the government.

Out of the 15 branches closed in Sheffield, the council said Norfolk Park and Nether Green should be reopened because they were most needed.

The council's cabinet will be asked to approve the plans next week.

A report to its members said there were no alternative post offices within a mile of the Norfolk Park and Nether Green branches.

Mobile services

It said there was a "sizeable number of older people" living near Nether Green, and accessibility for them was a "major issue".

The report said there were also more than 800 people who were past retirement age in the Norfolk Park neighbourhood.

A letter from the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive to Post Office Limited stated that closing the post office at Norfolk Park would cause "specific hardship".

It said the designated alternative location in Shoreham Street was not served by a direct bus route and there was "no prospect" of one being introduced.

The cabinet will also be asked to approve further consultations with local residents, to see if mobile post office services could be provided for those who used branches in Crookes Valley Road, Hatfield House Lane, High Wincobank, Parkhead, Shalesmoor and Southey.