Why did Royal Mail install postbox yards from another in Waterbeach?
By Cambridge News | Posted: December 08, 2015
The two postboxes are just yards apart
A postbox in Waterbeach has left councillors and residents scratching their heads after it was moved to a site less than one hundred metres from an existing box.
The box's relocation comes after the Post Office closed its branch on Waterbeach High Street and moved its services into Village Stores on Chapel Street at the end of October. At the time the move was announced, the Post Office's regional manager, Will Russell, said it was a modernisation that marked "a commitment to no more branch closure programmes."
District councillor James Hockney officially opened the new Post Office at the end of November.
However, residents were left puzzled after the postbox at the High Street branch was relocated outside the new post office, even though a box was already in place just 80 metres' walk along Chapel Street.
Michael Williamson, chairman of Waterbeach Parish Council, told the News the council were unhappy with the position of the new postbox. "It's in a silly place, because it's 100 yards away from another one," he said.
"They've moved it without our permission, and they've put it in a place we're not happy with. There should be a postbox in the middle of the village, near the school. That will mean it's more central."
Cllr Hockney expressed his concerns about the impact on older people in Waterbeach. He told the News: "You have sheltered housing off the High Street, and you have to think not everyone has the mobility – not everyone has a car.
"It's going to impact on the people that need it most," Cllr Hockney said.
Paula Kessler, 49, who lives and works in the village, said: "It's a strange place to put it [the postbox]. They could have left it on the High Street.
"And, of course, you now have to cross that horrible road which is dangerous for kids and old people. I don't think there's been a lot of thought put into it," Ms Kessler said.
A spokesman for Royal Mail said they had now written to the parish council for feedback on the postbox's location, adding: "Royal Mail is happy to relocate the box again if its new location does not meet the needs of local residents."