More Problems Reported with Community Mailboxes

Wednesday, 2 September 2015 at 15:40

Several boxes in Stratford have been closed due to safety concerns.

OXFORD COUNTY - Canada Post is experiencing structural problems with their new community mailboxes.

Several locations in Stratford have been closed as the boxes were deemed unsafe and door to door has begun again temporarily. While no safety concerns have been reported in Oxford County a spokesperson with Canada Post, Anick Losier explains how this happened. "Towards the end of the installation process we ran into some delays, and we rushed through the job. It is something that shouldn't have happened, they were temporary because we were trying to reach the August 17th start of delivery. We are probably going to have them back in operation in mid to the end of September time frame."

This problem just adds to the summer long issue that has bothered many in the community. Losier spoke with Heart FM about how the public feedback has been actually been beneficial. "We've had a good 10 months with the process in the area to involve residents in providing us with feedback, and yes there are complaints, but at the same time those were all helpful to the process. I think overall people understand why we need to do this, but what we have seen we were able to progress well based on the feedback and participation of residents." Over 1 million addresses in Canada alone will be converted to community mailboxes this year and a process will now be conducted to ensure this doesn't happen elsewhere.

Losier breaks down the safety concerns they have run into since the transition on August 17th. "Some of them were on the high mounts which meant they were not wheel chair accessible, they had gravel that was not really poured appropriately, they were not solid, we decided to be safe and close them off. We have a process to address concerns ultimately they may not like the answer but we have it our policy to investigate and rectify." Those experiencing problems with their mailbox are urged to contact the direct hotline at 1 (844) 454-3009.