Petition set up to preserve identity of Portchester on residents' postage

Geoff Fazackarley, councillor for Portchester East on Fareham Borough Council has set up a petition and e-petition asking the local authority to aid his bid to keep Portchester on the name of postage to the area’s residents.

According to Cllr Fazackarley he has received numerous calls from the area’s upset business and residents over the loss of the name from postage.

Residents instead collect their post to see Fareham written as the main location and this has led to confusion for some mail, as Portchester and Fareham share the same name for streets such as West Street in both areas.

Cllr Fazackarley, who set up the petition last month said: ‘This is a matter of preserving the identity of Portchester.

‘We are a close-knit community here and we want to have to be able to have that recognised by having our area on our mail.’

A written petition is being handed out around businesses in the Portchester Shopping Precinct and has gathered over 200 signatures.

An e-petition into Fareham Borough Council that currently has 93 signatures is also available for residents to sign online.

Cllr Fazackarley added: ‘If you lived in Baffins, you would want your postcode to read Baffins on it not just Portsmouth.

‘Dave Mockford, who runs Wicor Models in West Street says customers are constantly ending up in Fareham while looking for the store.

He said: ‘I’ve had many calls with Ebay about making sure they get the right address. It can be frustrating.’

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said that the company’s major address change team will investigate any request.

A consultation with Portchester residents would then take place before an amendment would be made.