Cllr Raj Sood renews banking hub bid as Downend set to lose Post Office

Cllr Raj Sood renews banking hub bid as Downend set to lose Post Office

Frenchay & Downend Liberal Democrat councillor Raj Sood has reapplied for a banking hub in Downend, after it was confirmed the town’s Post Office counter will close next month.

The Post Office, currently housed inside the Morrisons Daily convenience store on Downend Road, will shut on August 13 – two days before Morrisons closes the store itself on August 15.

The closure will leave Downend without a high street outlet for parcels, pension collection, passport and vehicle tax applications, and cash and cheque deposits, prompting Cllr Sood to submit a fresh application to cash access body Link for a banking hub to serve the area.

Cllr Sood previously applied for a banking hub after HSBC, Downend’s last ‘big four’ bank, closed its branch in 2023. That application was turned down by Link, which judged that the presence of the Post Office in Downend, together with bank branches in Kingswood and Fishponds, meant a hub was not required.

Since that assessment, NatWest has closed its Fishponds Road branch, and Lloyds is due to close its Fishponds branch on August 6 – leaving Downend’s case for a hub, Cllr Sood argues, considerably stronger than when it was first rejected.

Cllr Sood said: “Link turned us down last time on the basis that Downend still had a Post Office and that residents could go to Fishponds or Kingswood for their banking. Both of those assumptions are about to disappear. Once the Post Office closes on the 13th, Downend will have no in-person banking or cash access at all on its high street.

“I’m resubmitting our application because the facts on the ground have completely changed since Link last looked at this. A banking hub isn’t a nice-to-have – it’s essential for pensioners, small businesses and anyone who relies on cash, and for the future of Downend high street as a place people actually come to.

“I’d urge Link to look again, properly, at what’s happened to banking and postal access in Downend over the last two years, and to recognise that this community now meets the case for a hub.”

Cllr Sood has campaigned on the issue since HSBC’s closure in 2023, and says the latest developments underline the need for Link to treat Downend as a priority case rather than revisiting a decision made under circumstances that no longer apply.