'You can get a gin & tonic but you can't post a letter'

by Lisa Reeves

Tuesday 12^th February 2013

Tue 12^th Feb 2013

Following the relocation of Alderley Edge Post Office, parish councillors have agreed to request that a new post box and a sign, indicating where the post office is, are installed as soon as possible.

The new Post Office opened at 12 West Street on Thursday, 30th January, and three days later, following a request from the property owner, the postbox was removed from outside the former Post Office on London Road.

However, Royal Mail employees were unable to relocate the post box to outside the new branch because planning permission has not been obtained.

Speaking at last night's Parish Council meeting, Cllr Melanie Connor said "Somebody might have thought when they moved, not to take the pillar box away from the old site before they put a new one in at the new site. Then claim it was cracked but it wasn't. It was cracked when they moved it because they cracked it moving it."

Cllr Frank Keegan responded "Yes I was in there today and they have the unsightly bags around and whenever you get a stamp you have to put it in one of these bags inside the Post office now."

Cllr Mary Maczkowiak commented "I've had a lot of phone calls about the post box disappearing - you can get a gin and tonic in the village but you can't post a letter.

"That's the general consensus, and the other thing is we have a sign that actually shows people where the Post Office is. It's alright for local people who know that it is there but there is no sign now from the main road directing people to where the Post Office is. Can we request post office signage and a post box asap?"

Cllr Keegan responded "I shall email the regional network manager making those points to him. That we request clarity as to where it's now located for those outside the village, or even within the village, and better access to post boxes.

"They did cheekily mention where the post boxes were, one of them was at the end of Moss Lane - it took me all my time to know where they were talking about. I saw them eventually, there's one there and one at the end of Chapel Road which I saw today but I wouldn't have found them if I hadn't been told where the others were."

Cllr Joseph Bergin said "It's quite inconvenient in the centre of the village, it's really quite bad news."

Cllr Mary Maczkowiak responded "It was moved because it's in the way of the decking."

Nearby postboxes include:

Corner of Chapel Road and London Road - last collection 5.45pm Monday to Friday and 11am on Saturdays.
Corner of South Street and Chorley Hall Lane - last collection 4.45pm Monday to Friday and 11am on Saturdays.
Corner of Talbot Road and Moss Lane - last collection 5.30pm Monday to Friday and 11am on Saturdays.

Updated: 12th February 2013.

Bluemantle, the owners of the old Post Office premises have confirmed that they requested to have the post box removed in October 2012, giving Royal Mail over three months to arrange a relocation.

Tags:: Parish Council, Post Office

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Alan R Davies

Tuesday 12^th February 2013 at 3:42 pm

I seem to recall that the new Post Office had already been built before the Post Office launched a consultation to find out whether anybody thought it was a good idea. No doubt we can now expect a consultation exercise to find out whether it was a good idea to remove the post box. By the way, I presume that the property owner who asked for the post box to be removed was Bluemantle, who also own the new Post Office. Was the post box getting in their way, or did they just want it to be removed before anyone had the chance to object to it being moved?

Tuesday 12^th February 2013 at 3:51 pm

For anyone who'd like one of these post boxes, there's one advertised on eBay at £5,775. No wonder they wanted to take it away quickly.

Nicky Theofilopoulos

Tuesday 12^th February 2013 at 6:02 pm

Could not agree more with the previous comments on such an either stupidly incompetent or worse, falsely naive but calculating action, to remove the post box before its replacement with another one in front of the new Post Office. I suspect someone is about to benefit from the price of the old one. Meanwhile, I marvel at what seems to be a bit of an oversight to have failed to apply for a planning permission for the new post box at the same time as applying for permission for the siting of the new Post Office (i.e.for a change of use).

Lesley Broome

Tuesday 12^th February 2013 at 6:55 pm

There is usually a post box inside or attached to an actual office, why wasn't this in place before the change..it beggars belief. Can you not give your post/letters directly to the post office counter to put in their mail bag behind the counter? Nice but dim springs to mind with a lot of articles I read on here..

Sarah Lane

Wednesday 13^th February 2013 at 7:26 am

Very true Lesley. You only have to read the parking stories on here. It could all be solved so easily but somehow its allowed to become a never ending saga with pretty much nothing changing.

Giles Watmough

Sunday 24^th February 2013 at 2:01 am

Is this really important? I'm disabled and it's not easy to post a letter for me but any able bodied person it should be a doddle. The new post office is in the middle of the village. For God's sake worry about something important.