A local resident was so frustrated by the closure of the royal mail postbox in the wall of the former 'Beehive Stores' in Churchway that he wrote to Royal Mail to voice concerns.
It took Royal Mail over two months to reply!
You can see what they had to say on the right.
The relevant paragraph states: "The postbox was removed as it was in the wall of private property. The nearest post-box for use is within 500 yards and, as this is within the specified distance that we require a post-box facility to be available for our customers' use, we will not be replacing the one that we have removed."
Many residents will find this answer unsatisfactory, not least because:
1. The postbox has resided "in the wall of private property" for several decades, and the sale particulars for the Beehive when it went to auction specifically mentioned that the postbox was to be retained.
and
2. reference to 500 yards (apparently Royal Mail has yet to use SI units, some 13 years after their formal adoption in the UK!) presumably applies to the postbox located in Banks Park, near the Village Hall. Clearly, residents living at or closer to Church End (i.e., South of the 'Beehive') are regarded as needing the additional exercise. Moreover, such an argument could be applied post-box by post-box until (in theory, at least) the village is left with just one such facility.
We await with interest any additional information emanating from the Parish Council, which claims to have engaged in correspondence with Royal Mail in regard to this matter.
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Update: 15th August 2013
Another resident of Haddenham has written to Royal Mail, complaining about the loss of the 'Beehive' postbox. He lives in Aston Road and with the closure of that box, now has much further than 500 yards to walk to find the nearest postbox.
The reply from Royal Mail was rather nebulous. The customer services advisor's response reads:
"I have contacted the collections manager responsible for post boxes in your locality, to highlight the current situation. As soon as we receive a response we will let you know the outcome."
The Parish Council is hoping to have a meeting with a representative from Royal Mail at some point in the foreseeable future. However, it is difficult to predict how much weight the PC carries in such matters. So, for residents living at the southern end of the village (towards Church End) the best advice would seem to be to write personally to Royal Mail to complain, and to insist that a new postbox is installed at that end of Haddenham.
Here's the address for snail mail (if you can find a post box!!):
Royal Mail Customer Services
Glasgow Contact Centre
PO Box 740
Glasgow
G22 6WW
For those more inclined to communicate via email, click on the "Report a problem or would like to make a complaint" option here
Alternatively, the telephone contact is: 08457 740 740
(8am – 6pm, Monday to Friday. 8am – 1pm on Saturdays)
