A new permanent post office for Balintore has been opened by Jamie Stone, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.
Balintore Post Office is operated by the Seaboard Memorial Hall, which is a community-run company, sitting alongside its well-established café.
A temporary post office was set up at the Seaboard Memorial Hall in October to provide a part-time service of four hours each week. This interim service was provided by the Postmaster for Alness, to maintain Post Office service to Balintore, due to the resignation last summer of CJ Lang, who had the operated the branch at its store in Main Street.
In charge of Balintore Post Office is Maureen Ross, Director of Seaboard Memorial Hall. Ross and Hall Manager, Lynda Durrand, were instrumental in getting a temporary, then permanent Post Office at the Hall.
Ross said: “People regularly use the post office to send parcels, collect pensions, and to pay bills. They can also do banking here for all the high street banks, so it will save people long journeys as the nearest bank is nearly 7 miles away.
“Tourists and the local community were already coming here with friends and family for a drink and food at the café, so it is very convenient for the post office to be here as well.”
David Duff, Post Office Network Provision Lead, added: “We thank Seaboard Memorial Hall for providing the premises since the branch inside the CJ Lang store closed. We appreciate the Postmaster for Alness providing a temporary service until Seaboard Memorial Hall was able to provide a permanent solution. The post office and café work really well together.”
The branch, at Seaboard Memorial Hall in East Street, is open Monday to Friday 9am – 12.30pm.
