Royal Mail has confirmed it is to close its parcel collection office in Dundee city centre this month, claiming it is “not fit for purpose” and cannot cope with a growing workload.
Once the Crichton Street office shuts, the hundreds of customers who use it every week will have to go to either the central delivery office in Edward Street or the western delivery office in Baird Avenue to pick up their undelivered mail.
Management blamed the decision on the popularity of online shopping, saying it had led to an increase in the number of parcels it was having to handle.
The office has been under threat since October, partly because it does not comply with new disability laws, and was scheduled to shut in March when Royal Mail’s lease on the property ran out, before receiving a temporary reprieve.
West End councillor Fraser Macpherson took part in talks with Royal Mail to try to retain the office.
He said the closure decision would be “very detrimental” to customers and contradicted assurances given to him and other councillors when they met managers in May that the company would engage with them further on the issue.
But Alan Gairns, Royal Mail’s Scottish director of collection and delivery, insisted that closure was the best option.
He said, “The premises at Dundee Central and Dundee West provide more modern and better facilities, given the rise in online packets and parcels.
“The office in Crichton Street was no longer fit for purpose. Our customers will have access to facilities at both new locations with the same collection times as they currently have at Crichton Street.”Councillor’s angerHe added, “Like many national businesses, we need to change the way we operate and make efficiency savings.
“This move is part of a wider investment for Royal Mail services in Dundee and is part of our continuous drive to deliver great service to customers.”
It is understood that staff at the office were only informed on Tuesday. The change comes into force on August 29.
Customers in the DD1 postcode area will have to collect undelivered packets and parcels from Edward Street in the Polepark area and those in the DD2 and DD3 areas will have to go to Baird Avenue on the Dryburgh industrial estate.
The opening hours of the offices will be from 8am to 6pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, from 8am to 8pm on Wednesdays and from 8am to 2pm on Saturdays.
Leaflets about the change will be delivered to all business and residential customers in the affected areas next week.
Posters will also be put up in the Crichton Street office.
Mr Macpherson said he spoke on Monday to Ian McKay, Royal Mail’s director of Scottish affairs, to express his anger at the closure and complain that the promised engagement with the council appeared to be nothing more than a reply to a letter from chief executive David Dorward’Hopeless’ moveHe said, “My major area of concern is that, although the Edward Street depot is handy for some West End residents in the Blackness/Milnbank area, for many residents it is not a convenient location.
“It is not an easy walk for an elderly person travelling by bus. From both the 17 and 22 service routes, the walk is hilly in places.”
He said it was “bizarre” that customers in some areas near Edward Street, such as Corso Street, Abbotsford Place and parts of Blackness Road, would have to travel to Baird Avenue because they were in DD2.
Mr Macpherson said, “Baird Avenue is utterly hopeless if you rely on public transport.”
He added, “I am convinced that the Crichton Street office could be relatively easily altered to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act.
“The front access is already relatively level and all it would take to comply with disability requirements is a new reception desk, repainting and provision of an induction loop.
“The crucial point is that this office is extremely well situated in terms of public transport and, by comparison, the alternatives are poorly served by public transport.”
Even if the office could not handle the parcel workload, there was other office space in the city centre that might have provided an suitable alternative location, he argued.