Postal services and collections of parcels

Following on from a number of enquiries from residents and via the eForum, I have received the following comments from the regional External Relations Executive that I though I would share with you. Please hit the comments button to register your views.

1. Inaccessibility to Ledgers’ Lane by public transport from Headington to
collect undelivered parcels.

I fully understand that for customers who do not have access to a car they
may find it difficult to travel to the new location. However, our
understanding is that there are bus stops (for the number 1, 5 & 5a bus
services) in the locale of Ledgers Close.

Perhaps it would help if I explained that there are various options
available to customers to avoid the need to travel to our East Oxford
Delivery Office to collect their undeliverable mail.

The options that are then available to the customer are:

Have the item re-delivered to their address or any other local address
free of charge at a mutually convenient date & time.
Local Collect Service – for 50p the item can be taken to their local
Post Office branch for collection.
Another person can collect the item on their behalf from the delivery
office upon producing the card and suitable ID for the named addressee.

The first two options can be arranged by telephone or via the Royal Mail
website.

Also some mail order companies will allow customers, at the point of
purchase, to nominate an alternative delivery address.

2. Concerns over the resourcing and management of the Delivery Office at
Ledgers’ Lane as there are often queues. Someone has been informed that
there is a shortfall of 17 staff there.

Following the move of Headington to East Oxford the weekday opening hours
of the Callers Office were extended to cope with the increase in customer
numbers, the opening hours are now: 07:00 – 17:00 Monday – Friday and 07:00
– 12:30 Saturdays. These extended hours have helped to spread the workload
on the staff working in the office and enabled them to offer a far improved
service to customers who have a need to visit or make contact with them.

We would like to apologise to our customers for the length of the queues on
occasions that is due to the extremely high number of packages at certain
times of the year e.g. Easter, Valentines day, Christmas etc. Our staff
always working very hard to serve people as quickly as possible. Again it
is worth referring to the other options available to customers that I
detailed in my response to point 1.

There are a number of vacancies in the office, however, the callers office
is always fully manned.

3. The popular suggestion that undelivered parcels could be collected from
Headington Post Office (I believe that this service used to be available in
Headington before a building was disposed of, so expectations are still
high that this service can be replaced).

There are several Post Office branches in the area, which we believe
includes the Headington branch, where customers can request for their item
to be taken to their local Post Office branch for collection for a nominal
charge of for 50p (Local Collect Service).

4. There are also concerns that there isn’t always a daily postal delivery
service to homes in the area – it would be useful if you could provide some
statistics on this!

As part of The Licence issued by the Postal Services Commission (Postcomm)
Royal Mail is obliged to provide a delivery service to all addresses within
the UK Monday to Saturdays, unless the receiving address has been
classified as a Universal Service Obligation (USO) exception. Any failures
have to be reported to Postcomm on a monthly basis.

The Delivery sector Manager has confirmed that deliveries are being made
daily to every house in Headington that receives mail that day.

I trust I have allayed your concerns regarding the issues above and we are
confident that East Oxford Delivery Office will continue to strive to
provide an exceptional service to all their customers.

However, if you feel it would still be beneficial for you to meet with both
the Delivery Sector Manager and local Delivery Manager please let me know.

Margaret Road/ St. Anne’s Road surgery

Many thanks to all who came along to our street surgery on the corner of Margaret Road and St Anne’s Road on Thursday. Many issues were raised, including the need for a local Residents’ Association, the need for a Wooldridge Court street sign, the proposed mast on Rock Edge, residents’ parking zones, lack of progress on the Manor Ground development, bus routes and waiting areas, light pollution, street clutter, postal services, near misses caused by on-pavement cycle tracks, and cycling routes down Old Road. The sequencing of traffic lights at the Windmill Road/London Road junction was of high concern as two near misses had been seen last week, and a silver Mercedes car was seen speeding across the lights from Old High Street down Windmill Road which was highly dangerous (this has been reported to us previously by Old Headington residents). Lots of casework for us to be getting on with!

Residents in York Road would like to raise issues with us, and we shall try to fix a date for this so that a county councillor can attend as well

We valued all your comments, and are especially pleased that there is so much support for a new residents’ association to be set up in this part of the ward. If you live in the area bounded by Windmill Road, Langley Close, Margaret Road, York Road, and Old Road, including Gathorne Road, Rock Edge, Wooldridge Court and St. Anne’s Road, and you would like to be kept informed about the setting up of a new residents’ association, please let us have your contact details – we shall update you with developments!

London Road – traffic/crossing signals out until Wednesday

The signals have gone down at Gipsy Lane and there is currently no pedestrian crossing signal in operation near the junction of Latimer Road and London Road because of damage to an underground cable.

The County Council has called in the signals company to investigate the fault, and unfortunately repairs cannot be carried out until next Wednesday 3 September.

David and I have asked that this work is given highest priority.

National traffic statistics

untitled1.JPGThe Department for Transport’s annual road statistics have been published this month. They show that traffic has increased by 14% and that there are now 7,000 more roads since Labour came to power.

The statistics also show that HGVs have increased by 9.4% since 1997, and that 82% of them break the 50 mph speed limit on non built-up dual carriageways.

In the last fortnight, Ruth Kelly announced yet another £6bn to widen motorways.

Speaking in 1997, John Prescott said: “I will have failed if in five years’ time there are not many more people using public transport and far fewer journeys by car. It’s a tall order but I urge you to hold me to it.”

Licensing applications

David and I have received quite a few enquiries lately about licensing applications concerning premises in the Headington area.  If you want to find out more, please click on the Council’s licensing application search link

I shall make a link to this search site from the left hand toolbar so that you can reach it quickly at any time 

Phone boxes on London Road

First it was thought to be a green box, and then it grew into a phone stand. Next to the junction of London Road with Old High Street, and next to the existing phone boxes, a new stand has been erected at right angles to the existing boxes.

The new stand — it can hardly be called a box or a booth — did not need planning permission, though its advertising did (07/02672/ADV, for those with a desire for detail). But the question now is: why are there three phones at that point, blocking up the pavement?

The answer is that, when they made their advertising application, BT said that the new stand is a replacement and that the others will be removed. But they didn’t say when. So, Ruth and I have chased to find out when the pavement will be freed up again. We are told that BT are waiting for the electricity to the old boxes to be switched off, which Southern Electric will do on the 19th September. The boxes will be removed soon after that point.

Is the Green Belt sacred?

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This is the title of an interesting article in this week’s “Total politics” magazine about the importance of the Green Belt. Some figures are quoted by the Chief Economist at Policy Exchange that are quite surprising.

Which of these would you agree with?

75% of England is developed

50% of England is developed

25% of England is developed

15% of England is developed

or less than the above?

The answer is that, although 54% of survey respondents thought half of England was developed, the real answer (including garden space in cities) is 9.8%.

Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Parks account for 55.2% of England’s land.

More than 1.6m hectares in England (12.9% of land) is classed as Green Belt.

It’s important that we discuss the issues around the Green Belt in a measured, non-emotive and rational way. Local residents are best placed to consider housing and other economic needs in our communities, not national government. We need to keep up pressure on central government to give us greater powers of decision-making in any future review of the County’s Green Belt.

The Big Tidy Up

Fed up with litter? Like to make where you live a better place? Well now’s your big chance. Keep Britain Tidy is launching the Big Tidy Up, the country’s biggest ever litter tidy up!   Oxford City Council and Oxforshire Waste Partnership are supporting the Big Tidy Up and we are encouraging people to have their tidy up in September 2008, however tidy ups can happen anytime throughout the year.  Schools, groups, businesses, or even just you and your neighbours – lets all get together and have a great Big Tidy Up! 

Go to the Oxfordshire Waste Partnership website to register

All tidy up groups will be entered into the draw which takes place at the end of September with one lucky group winning £250

 

David and I helped the New Headington residents tidy up in Kennett Road last year, don’t forget to let us know the dates and times of your Big Tidy Up events! We’re keen to help.

Manor Ground development – watch this space!

Those brave enough to stay till the end of the North East Area Committee meeting on Tuesday will have noted that David and I pushed hard for action on the Manor Ground development scheme.  Beech Road residents have made it clear to us that they are disappointed that the promised affordable housing units have not yet been built and made available for use.

We have secured the Area Committee’s backing to call for a progress report from the Head of City Development.  Our Area Co-ordinator Angela Cristofoli is arranging a meeting between officers in Planning and City Housing/Development and David and myself to agree an action plan.  We will post up more news when we have it..watch this space!