PLANS to move a post office into Gosport Discovery Centre will not happen while it is closed for refurbishment.
The centre is currently undergoing refurbishment, with self-service terminals being installed.
But when the centre reopens on Tuesday, April 2 the post office will still be in its current location, also in Gosport’s High Street.
As previously reported in The News, the current ‘eyesore’ post office had come under fire from the Tory leader of Gosport Borough Council, Councillor Mark Hook, when he called it an ‘embarrassment’.
He said it is frustrating the post office will not move into the centre during the work.
‘It would have been good the works could have been done together,’ he said.
‘It’s a bit like the gas board digging up the road and two months later the water board follow.
‘There’s the potential to dispose of the post office site in its entirety – one of the problems is to part-let the existing part of the post office. Once the post office is out, you’ve got a whole building to let, or whatever the landlords choose to do.’
He added that it was right the delay in moving the post office did not delay the refurbishment of the centre.
Hampshire County Council is putting a business proposal to Post Office Counters Ltd.
It is also looking to work out if the project is feasible.
County libraries boss, Cllr Keith Chapman, said: ‘We have to be sure we have explored all the various options before we begin work on such a significant project.’
Gosport Lib Dem opposition leader, Cllr Peter Chegwyn, said the current post office is in a bad state.
He said: ‘I was in there the end of last week, and it’s an absolute mess and a nightmare.
‘We’ve got a town of 80,000 plus people that’s got its post office hidden away behind a derelict shop front.’
A Post Office spokesperson said any move would need a public consultation.
She said: ‘We are talking to an interested party but it would not be appropriate for us to say anything more.’
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