Lynne Featherstone MP and Haringey Lib Dem leader, Cllr Sarah Elliott, met with representatives from Royal Mail last week to discuss the closure of the local Hornsey Sorting Office and parcel collection point.
The local MP for Hornsey and Wood Green had campaigned to halt the plans to close the current site on Tottenham Lane and move the services to the Bush Industrial Estate in N19. Over 1000 residents signed the Lib Dem MPs petition supporting her call.
At the meeting, representatives from Royal Mail told the MP that they would be pressing ahead with the closure, but will be trialling a new service to minimise the impact.
Delivery of all parcels in the area will be attempted between 7am and 9am in an effort to ensure a high successful delivery rate. If the resident is not available to receive the parcel, redelivery will automatically be reattempted the next day between the same hours.
This will be the first time that the service has been trialled anywhere in the country outside of the busy Christmas period, and comes as a result of direct pressure from local residents and Lynne Featherstone MP’s campaign to protect or replace the current service.
But, Lynne Featherstone MP is continuing to press for a like for like replacement service and more flexible redelivery options, in order to offer local people as little disruption as possible.
Lynne Featherstone MP commented
“Royal Mail are reluctant to replace the Hornsey Sorting Office with a like for like alternative in the area, for financial and logistical reasons. But local residents that rely on the service must come first. I do not feel that Royal Mail’s proposed solution goes far enough.
“Customers need the level of service and flexibility they have now and this scheme does not provide that. I think there needs to be more specific redelivery times, which can be specified by the customers – to avoid disruption and spending any hours waiting in for a parcel at the weekend.
“I will be watching their pilot scheme closely but at the same time I shall continue to campaign on the behalf of local people for proper replacement services.”
Lynne Featherstone 
Lynne,
You are a minister in the government that privatised the post office and thus share collective responsibility for doing so. What credibility do you have when campaigning against the resulting cost-cutting exercise, just because it has visited your constituency? It should have remained properly funded in the public sector.
Lynne
When this government where striving for a privatised Royal Mail, many many posties were warning that services would be harmed. the union associated with the posties , the CWU, also warned of closures and a worsened service. Yet, the Lib Dems and the Conservatives pushed ahead for their privatised Royal Mail!! Which was under sold by billions of pounds!!!! I work as a postie in Kent. We have gone through our changes. I deliver to over 700 houses, daily, with no time to return at set times, unfortunately its a case of, I get there when I can….a far cry from when we were a public service!! To promise set times for a redelivery is foolish, and only setting itself up for a fall. Royal Mail wont invest in more staff for this. A renationalised Royal mail is the best way forward. Maybe a day with a proper postie would open an MP’s (blinkered) eyes a little!!!
re this…
Delivery of all parcels in the area will be attempted between 7am and 9am in an effort to ensure a high successful delivery rate. If the resident is not available to receive the parcel, redelivery will automatically be reattempted the next day between the same hours.
…simply not true. i have had a couple of failed parcel deliveries since the hornsey sorting office closed, both of which were attempted around 12.30, and there were no attempts to redeliver my parcels the following day.
is there no way they could arrange for our post to at least be dropped to wood green sorting office, which is considerably easier to get to than tuffnell fecking park? it’s gonna be more than an hour round-trip, not to mention the best part of £3 in bus fares, every time i have to collect a parcel.
so angry about this situation, please tell me you’ve got something up your sleeve?
Re: Redelivery of parcels
Any parcel can be redelivered to a Post Office counters branch, and collected from there at the recipients pleasure. Failing this, Royal Mail is happy to redeliver an item to a neighbour IF REQUESTED, and indeed another delivery office nearby.
A redelivery ONLY gets attempted at the recipients request (48 hours notice normally required). An automatic redelivery the next day (without a request first) is simply impossible considering the vast amount of items received on any one day in a sorting/delivery office.
Hope this helps, and believe me, your postie is as concerned and as angry as you are about this!!!