As late as 1986, Marazion had its own sorting office. In 2012 the post office branch that was based in what is now Morvah Gift Shop in Market Square closed its doors for the last time. To ensure continuity of service, the owners of Cobble Corner took on the post office services and offered a Post Office counter for local residents. 

However, earlier this year, due to a number of personal and professional reasons, Cobble Corner decided to give notice to Post Office Ltd that it would no longer host these services. Despite a call from Post Office for another organisation in town to take these on, no applications were forthcoming. 

Whilst Cobble Corner has instigated PayPoint services that alleviate some of the issues that residents and businesses were facing with the withdrawal of the counter, others remain difficult. 

Discussions with Post Office Ltd as to whether a mobile post office for an hour a week could be provided for Marazion were refused. Initially this request was refused because, they said, they have a policy that only towns and villages without a post office within a two mile radius of the previously closed outlet. However, when it was pointed out to Post Office Ltd that Newlyn had a mobile post office and they were just 0.9 miles from the main Penzance sorting office and another Post Office branch, Post Office Ltd changed their reasons. 

They countered by saying that the reason for refusing a Marazion request was that they had a moratorium of having new mobile post office routes and no new ones were being considered. When it was pointed out to Post Office Ltd that just four days before their email was sent a new mobile postal office service was being offered to a north Cornish village and was being featured on BBC online, Post Office Ltd again changed its reasoning and said that there was no capacity in this part of Cornwall for additional mobile services to be offered. It also said that Newlyn had had a mobile post office since before the pandemic, yet did not go on to explain why that mattered. 

Marazion has many vulnerable and elderly residents. Some who are carless. Some who are not technology literate. For these residents post office services in close proximity to the town offer an invaluable resource. 

If you believe that the Post Office needs to agree to provide a one hour a week mobile postal van to the town then please sign here. We already have more than 1,400 paper signatories, but we need more!