Royal mail poor delivery services leads to risk of COVID-19 infections

Image of Hannah Chowdhry posting letter for elderly resident during first lockdown

Many residents of Chigwell and the surrounding area have become increasingly dismayed by the lack of postage to their homes.  In many cases mail has been delayed by up to a month, while at other times sent mail does not arrive at all.  

In a few cases on the local community whatsapp group and on the Nextdoor app residents who have received mail for other homes, have shared details on-line so that people can collect it rather than returning the mail (often Christmas cards) to the Royal mail for more delay.

Local residents have been travelling to the local depot in Debden to collect their mail, but this places many people at risk of COVID-19 infections at a depot premises that is now frequently visited and has many frequent touch points (such as on the doors and service counters). Others have simply suffered from a particularly woeful service as they attempt to protect their health.

Important letters, such as insurance documents, bills and bank statements are being delayed.  Moreover with Christmas nearing many shelves and mantle pieces usually adorned with Christmas cards are notably bare.

CRRA have sent a letter of complaint to Royal Mail and will share any response with local people.  We have also created this petition which we will send to Royal Mail and to our Parish Council.  Our Parish Council has sought the views of local people and we encourage local people to add their comments to our petition, so that we have a public display of our unified disappointment.

Please sign and share our petition (here)

Royal Mail are blaming it on staff shortage due to COVID-19  and Christmas holidays.  However, the fact that hospital appointments are being missed and essential bills not paid means their lacklustre attempts to resolve the issue with often poorly trained staff has exacerbated the difficulties of people already coping with the stress of lockdowns. 

Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the Chigwell Row Residents Association, said:

"I myself have been receiving very little mail for well over a month.

"That has always been quite usual for me as my road is confused with other closes in the area and often we find other people's mail in our letterbox (click here).

"We have raised complaints before and continue to do so.

"The alarmingly poor delivery in recent months is disturbing due to the size and scale of the impact.

"We hope that the problem is soon rectified."

Comments

  1. Morris Hickey26 February 2021 at 02:56

    Delayed delivery will not invalidate the content of letters from the Charity Commission.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What the Dickens, is going on in Chigwell?

Image
At the end of our journey local history buffs congregated under the Dickens Oak. Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page   (click here) On Saturday 5th December 10 people from Chigwell and the surrounding area travelled across the various sites in Chigwell Row and Chigwell Village that had a connection to the world famous author Charles Dickens.  Initially people met just behind the car park of the Maypole pub The tour began at the Dido Oak in Hainault Forest accessible via Sylvan Way.  This is a veteran oak (old but not quite ancient a list of definitions can be found here ) that was once made famous in Tatler Magazine back in 1903, due to an article about the Hermit of Hainault, a man named William Bell otherwise known as Dido who once lived in the forest under the cover of some sackcloth.  In his pocket he carried herbal roots, snakes, newts and anything else he could make money form.  Apparently he used to say: 'They call me Doctor Bell, Because I make my patien
Read more

Great News! The Chigwell Yellow Bus is going to increase the number of buses for school provision which will reduce travel times for students using their services!

Image
Most of you already know that Chigwell Row Residents Association has been working in partnership with Epping Forest Community Transport.   Charity No: 1148539 Registered Company Limited by Guarantee No: 7983448 Email:  efct@efcommunitytransport.org.uk  Web:  www.efcommunitytransport.org.uk , i n supporting local residents get their children to school safely and reducing traffic within the Chigwell community. At present Epping Forest Community Transport are offering one minibus to Chigwell (High Road), Davenant Foundation, Debden Park High and West Hatch High schools.  A second minibus could be available if we can increase the interest therefore reducing the time required for student travel and increasing pick up locations.   The same minibus serves our ageing community to access Epping High Street,  Epping Retail Park or Debden High street. The service is a Demand Response Service, DaRT8 for more information please contact Epping Forest Community Transport 01992 579556, email  efct@efc
Read more

Disruption to bin collections in Epping Forest District

Image
 We have received the following message from Epping Forest District Council and share it with you: Staff shortages due to coronavirus at our waste contractor Biffa may mean disruption to some residents normal recycling and rubbish collections. We are working extremely hard to ensure that the service continues as close to normal as possible. Prioritising recycling and black bin collection We are prioritising recycling and black refuse bin collections over green-lidded food and garden bin collections. If your food and garden bin is not collected please take it in until your next scheduled collection day. In Epping and North Weald on Wednesday we were unable to collect all the recycling. If your collection was missed please leave your recycling sacks on the boundary as normal and we will collec
Read more