LOSSIEMOUTH RESIDENTS HAVE launched a petition urging a rethink by Royal Mail over the closure of their local delivery office.
Rumours had been rife for months over the future of the Lossiemouth depot and last week fears of locals were realised when Royal Mail said that all operations in Lossiemouth would transfer to Elgin this Spring.
That, according to many residents, leaves people in one of Moray’s largest towns with the problem of having to make a 12-mile round trip to collect undelivered mail – many of whom will be elderly or without any means of transport.
While Royal Mail insist that people can make arrangements for items to be left with neighbours, that is not an always an option, with residents pointing out that a town the size of Lossiemouth should never be placed in such a position by Royal Mail.
In a petition raised by local resident Fran Mitchell, residents insist that the decision would have a detrimental effect on the community that was never consulted on the decision: “It will mean a 12-mile round trip to collect items from the main sorting office in Elgin.
“No town of a size and population such as Lossiemouth’s should ever be left in such a position, and for Royal Mail to claim that they could find no suitable site to accommodate a new sorting office is hard to believe – there are many locations in the town that would be been suitable if they really had a will.
“If they go ahead with this then it means the elderly, frail or those not in good health will be the first to suffer, as they may find it difficult enough to get into Elgin far less to have to make a special journey just to collection mail that might as easily turn out to be junk mail given the amount of that Royal Mail seem happy enough to deliver.
“Many others are low income families and again paying an additional bus fare to collect mail items is simply not acceptable – this is a community that is planned to grow with hundreds of new homes being planned, it is simply unacceptable that Royal Mail do not recognise that fact.”