Royal Mail puts letter box back... in different place

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/c ... place.html

A POST box has been reinstalled in Sonning Common but in a different place.

The original one was embedded in a brick pillar near the One Stop shop in Wood Lane, where there is a Post Office branch.

But this was removed in October without notice by Royal Mail, which said the condition of the bricks was “unsafe”.

Parish councillors demanded that it was put back and were told this would be done in the spring as it would require excavation of the ground but the work didn’t take place.

Now a new letter box has placed near the bus stop outside the Hot Wok takeaway on the opposite side of the road.

The Post Office says this is because the land outside the One Stop shop is private property.

Parish clerk said Philip Collings said the new location was “completely illogical”.

“It’s incompetence on a grand scale,” he said. “There’s a building here which has the label ‘Post Office’ and it has been there for 50 years or more.

“It means the people that used to go there to post their parcels and do other things in the shop now have to cross the road to post their letters, which is an extra risk for them.

“Also, the people who do the collections will have to park outside the One Stop, collect their things and then drive across the road and park to collect letters from the box — it beggars belief.”

Parish councillor Leigh Rawlins said he was disappointed to see the post box had not been returned to its original place as Royal Mail has suggested it would be last year.

He said the company told him it was moved due to a “spacing issue” outside the convenience store but then changed its story.

Councillor Rawlins said: “Royal Mail has come back again and said it’s now because the land outside the One Stop is private and they can’t install a post box on it as it is no longer their policy to do that.

“It’s now a done deal but it wasn’t what they explained at the beginning. I’ve taken it as far as I can go.

“I believe the original land it was on is owned by Tesco but it’s not a case of Royal Mail asking for permission and being refused, they just didn’t ask.

“This all started when somebody said the wall was a bit cracked and they got all health and safety on it and pulled the whole thing out and it disappeared into a black hole for most of the pandemic.” Cllr Rawlins, who represents the village on South Oxfordshire District Council, said the new location of the post box was “inconvenient” for residents wanting to use it as well as visiting the post office counter.

He said: “If there’s an elderly resident, or any resident really, who goes into the One Stop and buys a stamp they then have to walk across and down the street to post their letter.

“The post office could take it and that would solve that particular problem, I suppose, but the poor postie will have to collect the parcels at the post office and then jump back in his van and drive back up the other side of the street, blocking the road, to empty the post box.

“After waiting for so long, it’s a disappointment but it feels like we just have to write it off and say that’s the end of that.”

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “The original location of the post box is on private land. We are legally obliged not to install post boxes on private property.

“We identified a suitable site on a very wide part of the public highway with no access issues where the post box has been reinstalled.

“When situating a box in a new location, we need to undertake surveys of the location to ensure there are no underground services that would prevent us digging down to install the box.”