Royal Mail will be changing the way it collects mail from post boxes. Between 45k and 50k of the 115k post boxes will move to earlier collection rounds that will typically be serviced by delivery staff. The earlier times will be between 9am and 3pm. Where changes mean earlier collections, a later collection will be made available within half a mile apparently.
Post box usage has fallen by a third since 2005 but the plans mean all post boxes will stay in play and some new ones will be added too: 2000 new boxes are promised in underserved areas such as in rural parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Some new boxes will be sited in busy areas such as train stations and shopping centres.
Royal Mail says: “Rather than decommission uneconomic postboxes, while staying within the regulated density requirement, Royal Mail will ensure their viability by improving the efficiency of its collections arrangements.”
I’ve got to say that to a very great extent this makes a lot of sense and a last collection of say 3pm isn’t going to be the most irritating of changes whether you’re in town or country. It is certainly preferable to bring forward the collection times that see a massive decommissioning of the boxes themselves.
And we have to be very honest and note that a post box isn’t that vital and maybe daily part of our everyday lives these days in the way it has been in the past. And its exactly these sort of changes that we should expect to see more of under the privatised Royal Mail,
