Second class service? Gloucester post to go to Bristol

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Second class service? Gloucester post to go to Bristol and back as Eastern Avenue mail centre shuts down

http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Seco ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

THERE are fears of a second class postal service for Gloucester residents when the mail centre finally closes in March.

The Eastern Avenue office will shut on March 10, meaning all letters and parcels posted in the county will be sorted in Bristol.

It means that if you post a letter in the city to go just a few miles, it will probably be sorted in Bristol, before returning to the county for delivery.

The move is under way now, and is seeing more than 100 postmen and women taking voluntary redundancy. It comes after a period of consultation by Royal Mail which needs to cut costs to remain competitive.

But Paul Trehearne, secretary of the Gloucester branch of the Communication Workers' Union, said the Bristol mail centre was under pressure at Christmas and may not be able to cope.

"The amount of mail we have coming in to the county is more than we process going out," he said. "We have got serious concerns that Bristol won't be able to deal with that quantity of work. It's a disaster waiting to happen."

He said they wanted to keep dealing with post coming into the county, but Royal Mail had decided against that.

"Throughout Christmas we got word from Bristol that they could not cope with it," he said.

There were originally 370 postal workers at the Eastern Avenue site and 130 of them are taking voluntary redundancy.

Of those, around 80 have gone so far, and around 40 are still working on the night shift.

A total of around 250 staff have been kept on and will work at the Gloucester north (Brockworth), Gloucester south (Quedgeley) and Stroud delivery offices, or are already doing so.

It means mail posted in Gloucestershire will go to Bristol via those three delivery offices, then back to them for delivery.

Residents are unhappy at their mail going from Gloucester to Bristol and back again.

Quedgeley city and county councillor Anna Mozol, pictured, said deliveries are already as late as 4pm or 5pm in her neighbourhood. "I think it's disgusting," she said. "Why go all the way to Bristol and back? It's just doubling up. There's no need."

Anthony Hewitt, who lives near Newent, wondered why the change is necessary.

"Year after year the deliveries get later and later and the posties seem to be under more and more pressure," he said. "I suppose if Royal Mail think it's the only way they can do it, then so be it, but if it doesn't work, what then? The Gloucester office will be closed by then."

The changes come after falling numbers of deliveries and an increase in competition in the mail delivery market.

A previous plan to close the centre was overturned in 2007 after a long-fought campaign by postal workers, backed by then-MP Parmjit Dhanda.

Gloucester City Council has approved an application for certificate of lawful use for the 5.5-acre site at Eastern Avenue for a distribution centre, offices and a transport workshop, and the site went up for sale in May last year.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "Our priority throughout this process has been to ensure the best possible outcome for all our colleagues who are affected by the closure of the Gloucester mail centre site.

"One hundred and thirty colleagues have taken voluntarily redundancy and nearly 250 have been redeployed into other roles. There have been no compulsory redundancies.

"The site is due to be closed in mid-March, with the last of the mail transferring to Bristol on March 10.

"The sale of the site is being managed by a third party and is an ongoing process. Our remaining sites in Gloucester will continue to play a vital role in helping us provide services to the GL postcode area.

"The Gloucester south site will also function as a customer enquiry office from which customers are able to collect undelivered items of mail.

"We were very pleased with our Christmas operation this year and look forward to serving customers in Gloucester and across the area in the year ahead.

"Our programme of business transformation is taking place against a background of huge growth in parcels from online retail, while at the same time we are seeing a decline in traditional letter volumes.

"We exceeded our quality of service targets for the GL postcode, according to the most recently available data, during which period some of the mail for GL postcode was already being processed in Bristol. Royal Mail has the highest universal service specification of any major European country."