Cat Smith Working for Lancaster and Fleetwood
Since March, I have been working hard in the Bulk and John O’Gaunt area, along with County Councillor Lizzi Collinge, to make sure residents have better access to Royal Mail services.
A post-box on Littledale Road in Quernmore was removed in November last year, with no replacement. Royal Mail told me that it has been replaced due to firework damage, and that there was another post-box within half a mile. This was perplexing to say the least, even after I pointed out to them that neither of these facts were true – the firework damage it suffered was 20 years ago, and the nearest post-box is 1.3 miles away!
Then, in December residents in East Lancaster lost their post-box, when the Quernmore Road post-box was vandalised and put out of action without any replacement. This means the thousands of residents of Quernmore Park, Standen Park, The Residence, and High Wood have had to travel into town to send mail, which is entirely unacceptable and incredibly difficult for those without a car. Again, no action from Royal Mail.
I’ve been busy campaigning on this:
- March: I challenged the Deputy Prime Minister on Royal Mail cuts
- April: I met with the Minister of Postal Affairs about the Quernmore postboxes – who said he would ‘get it sorted’
- May: The Minister updated me to say he couldn’t get it done
- May: I updated residents to assure them I was on the case!
- June: On 1st June I asked for the Royal Mail and the Co-Op to work together install a new service
- June: Royal Mail again refused to take action – but I’m not giving up!
- July: I wrote to the Chief Executive of the Co-Op to see if they would work with Royal Mail to get a postbox in their store.
I will keep fighting this! It’s completely unacceptable that residents here are continually let down by Royal Mail, and lose access to a core service which keeps us all connected.
Also last month I was delighted to secure the opening hours at Lancaster Delivery office. This is a vital service for residents and businesses alike and I’m so pleased it’s staying open!
Since the botched and short-sighted privatisation of Royal Mail under the coalition Government in 2013, the private company has failed to replace postboxes, and have shortened opening collection point hours at their delivery centres – despite paying £567m in dividends and share buybacks in the last financial year.
I refuse to back down in the face of these continual cuts to universal postal services.
Abraham Heights in Marsh area (October 2023)
As a further issue, it has recently come to my attention that the postbox on Coolidge Avenue has been removed without warning. This serves the whole Abraham Heights area and the nearest ones are a significant walk away, and so I have contacted Royal Mail urging them to replace it as soon as possible. Read more on this here.
Related links
Cat asks Co-Op Chief Exec for Postbox at Quernmore Road
SUCCESS! Lancaster Delivery Office Stays Open
Cat tells residents – I’m fixing this postbox!
Royal Mail REFUSE to replace Quernmore Road post box
Cat gets Royal Mail and Co-Op together on post-box
Tory Minister fails to help Quernmore get post-box fixed
Save our Royal Mail Customer Service Hours!
Cat quizzes Deputy Prime Minister over Royal Mail profits [VIDEO]