RM stops delivering to hamlet cut off by closed bridge

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Royal Mail stops delivering to hamlet cut off by closed bridge

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... ridge.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The residents of the picturesque hamlet of Barforth have been left devastated after Royal Mail officials announced their decision to stop making postal deliveries due to a bridge which closed three years ago.

Instead, householders in Barforth will be expected to make a 14-mile round trip to collect their own letters and parcel.

The ruling has come three years after the bridge linking their isolated community to nearby Gainford, Darlington, Co Durham, was declared unsafe and promptly closed.

Since then the more foolhardy of locals and visitors have tiptoed across decaying railway sleepers laid out by Army engineers 50 years ago.

But with a concrete wall preventing access to vehicles, delivery drivers – including those bearing the Queen’s mail - opted for a second, rather longer route into the hamlet.

But not any more – at least not in the case of the Royal Mail.

While the likes of TNT are still content to go the extra miles, local postmen have been ordered to simply cut Barford out of their normal route.

Martin Emerson, 61, a company secretary, is less than pleased – not least because when he moved into the hamlet in December he agreed to pay to have mail from his previous address re-directed.

“I don’t understand Royal Mail’s problem with deliveries,” he said yesterday.

"They have told us they won't make deliveries here, but we routinely see other vans coming down the road.”

Mr Emerson, 61, who lives with his partner, Teresa Merriott, and their son, Aidan, 15, added: “When we moved here before Christmas we paid for a year-long service to have our mail re-directed.

“They never mentioned that they wouldn’t actually deliver to Barforth.

“It is frustrating and we'd like to know why other companies can come here and they can't."

The bridge at the centre of the controversy was built by the Army to service a now-disused quarry.

Over the years it fell into disrepair, with neither the neighbouring landowners nor Durham County Council prepared to meet the cost of its upkeep.

Finally, in 2009, the council decided to close it rather than risk vehicles slipping through its rickety structure and into the Tees.

Warning signs were erected by staff at the Marwood Estate which lies on the northern shore.

A spokesman, Andrew Lewis, said at the time: “Because we own the access road to the bridge we thought we had a duty of care to do something. I went down to inspect it and I didn’t believe it was safe.

“People have said that sat navs will take them over the bridge and, if a lorry went over it, I don’t think we would ever see it again.”

The owners of Barforth Hall, the Forrest family, have conducted a land search and confirmed that the bridge does not belong to them.

PC Dave Williamson, the beat officer for Gainford, said: “We are aware that there is a serious question mark over the safety of the structure.

“Until this matter is resolved, our advice to the community is to avoid using the bridge on foot, via horseback, and, in particular, in a vehicle.

“Until the safety of the bridge can be assured police vehicles will not travel over it and will use an alternative route.”

A spokesman for Durham County Council said: “This bridge is a privately-owned structure, which stands on private ground which is not a highway or a right of way.

This has left villagers with only a dirty track to link them to the nearest towns of Barnard Castle and Darlington.

The river crossing at Barforth has been a bone of contention for centuries.

Legend has it that in ancient times the residents on either bank repeatedly squabbled over who controlled the original ford.

Those on the south side were so angry that they barricaded the ford, and thus became known as the men of Barford.

Their rivals, having won the dispute, were deemed from that day on to come from Gainford.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

[Straight4ward]

I thought that the USO would require us to deliver, even if it was a 14 mile round trip?
Am I missing something?

[DGP1]

I thought that the USO would require us to deliver, even if it was a 14 mile round trip?
Am I missing something?

I thought the same thing, they can still get to the addresses safely so we should be delivering it. It sounds like a manager trying to cut hours out of the office

[fishtank]

I thought that the USO would require us to deliver, even if it was a 14 mile round trip?
Am I missing something?

What is the 15 minute rule?

A private road or track (including those that are also a public right of way) that has poor access conditions but not so bad as to trigger a health and safety exception can mean that the “15 minute rule” needs to be considered by Royal Mail. The 15 minutes refer to the time taken to do a round trip to the delivery point and back either on foot or by vehicle driving at a safe speed for the conditions. It is impossible to produce a definitive list of what can contribute to this but the following highlights examples of situations that could cause the rule to be implemented. Please note that this list is non-exhaustive and that each case is judged on its own merits. It is also worth bearing in mind that if problems like these are allowed to get worse then delivery may end up being suspended on health and safety grounds, even if the journey time is under fifteen minutes.

Access roads or tracks with a surface covering which is wearing away or crumbling
Permanent covering of mud or other debris on the road or track
Roads or tracks which are rutted
Pot holes and other obstacles
Overhanging or overgrowing vegetation that gets in the way of the vehicle
Foot paths which are slippery or overgrown or which have a poor surface condition
Sheer drops with little or no protection
Steep climbs
Blind bends
Long narrow stretches with few or no passing places
Should you feel that the 15-minute rule has been incorrectly applied to your address you may request a review from your local Delivery Office Manager.

[Straight4ward]

You live and learn.

Thanks, fishy, I'd not heard of that one before.

[TeeferTiger]

Look how far they've got to go just to get to their bins!!

[fishtank]

Was a concrete wall really necessary?
If they had just put a fence up would the locals have driven through it?
Is this Hazzard County?

[R@YAL F@IL]

Hilarious

[Indy]

According to 'You and Yours' on Radio 4 this afternoon this has now all been sorted and mail is now being delivered.

[Stormproof]

They could just bolt a load of these to that wall.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Cheers as the post returns

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/9 ... t_returns/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

THERE were cheers from relieved residents as Royal Mail made its first delivery to a hamlet which had received no post since 2009.

Householders living in the seven properties at Barforth, in Teesdale, County Durham, had been forced to make 14- mile round trips to Gainford to collect their post after the Royal Mail suspended deliveries due to the closure of an unsafe bridge leading into the hamlet.

The 50-year-old bridge, which crosses the River Tees, was deemed at risk of collapse in 2009, meaning the only other route into Barforth was a dirt track, which was improved by Durham County Council and has been used daily ever since by residents, visitors and other delivery companies.

The bridge repairs have been delayed by an ongoing row over who should fund its upkeep.

An interim arrangement was set up for people to collect their post from Gainford, but the Royal Mail has now resurrected its deliveries to the area.

Martin Emerson, who raised the residents’ frustration at their postal plight earlier this week, said there was no prior warning from the Royal Mail that deliveries were restarting but expressed his delight at the decision.

He said: “There were three of us chatting outside the houses on Wednesday morning and we cheered the van in.

We had heard nothing official from the Post Office in the way of communication from them.

“Everyone is very happy but I don’t know why it has taken all the media attention before they did something.

“We can all cut some of our petrol money down now. On average, we probably went to Gainford about four times a week to collect post, but sometimes it was daily if we were waiting for a particular piece of mail.”

Heulyn Gwyn Davies, from the Royal Mail, said: “Following an assessment carried out on Wednesday by the Darlington delivery office manager, Royal Mail has resumed mail deliveries to Barforth residents with immediate effect.

“It is always a last resort to suspend deliveries as we always appreciate the inconvenience this will cause our customers.”