Royal Mail (Hansard, 19 April 2004)

§ Mr. Spellar

The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has written to the hon. Lady in response to this question.

Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin to Mrs. Iris Robinson, dated 6 April 2004: You tabled a Parliamentary Question asking for what reasons Royal Mail has been denied permission to erect a post box at Lansdowne Road, Newtownards. As the issues fall within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply. I understand that Royal Mail submitted a written request on 7 January 2004 seeking permission to locate a post box at Lansdowne Road, Newtownards. The proposed location of the box was shown to be 5 metres from the junction of Lansdowne Road and Ten Acre (a side road leading to houses occupied mainly by elderly people). Following discussions with the Traffic Police, our local Section Engineer replied to Royal Mail on 16 January 2004 indicating that the proposed location was not suitable due to concerns that vehicles stopping so close to the junction to post mail would have compromised traffic safety. However, it was suggested that if the box could be located a minimum of 15 metres from the junction, at the back of the footway, this would be acceptable. This distance ties in with the minimum length of waiting restriction commonly marked on the ground at road junctions to reinforce current law (i.e. it is an offence to park a vehicle within 15 metres of a junction regardless of whether the road is marked with double yellow lines). It would appear that Royal Mail has somehow misinterpreted the content of our reply, which clearly indicates that Roads Service would grant approval for an alternative location close to that initially proposed. I have asked our Section Engineer to contact the Royal Mail to clarify the position so that the post-box can be provided as soon as possible.