Victory declared
In a victory for our long-suffering colleagues on delivery, the government has backed a move to ban low-level letterboxes on new properties.
Conservative MP Vicky Ford presented the Government with a private member’s bill calling for an amendment to building regulations to require a minimum letterbox height on new buildings.
The government has now promised to consider changing the law as early as 2020. The new regulations are likely to be similar to European standards, where a letterbox must be between 0.7m and 1.7m high.
The MP for Chelmsford said low-level letterboxes were a ‘real issue’ in her constituency, after colleagues at her local delivery office first raised the problem when she visited them in the run-up to Christmas.
We found this out for ourselves, when RMtv went out on delivery with Chelmsford postman David Steele. Watch the video above to see what we discovered.
After the Bill received unanimous support from members of Parliament, the government's Building Regulations Advisory Committee has now announced it will be reviewing low-level letterboxes on new build properties.
Mrs Ford said, ‘Sometimes in life the little things make a big difference. Large developments with low-level letterboxes are a nightmare for postal workers. Those of us who have ever suffered from back pain know how debilitating it can be.
‘I am delighted to have been able to lead this campaign through Parliament and to have secured this result. The change in regulations will bring about real improvements for the health and safety of postal workers and other deliverers’.
CWU national health and safety officer, Dave Joyce, who has been spearheading the union's low-level letterbox campaign since 2003, said ‘The years of campaigning on this big issue for postal workers has at last made a breakthrough and with the government's huge nationwide house building programme underway, it couldn't have happened at a better time.
‘Ensuring developers use minimum letterbox standards will lead to less injuries to postmen and women such as, dog bites through the letterbox, strained backs and trapped fingers, as well as fewer mail items being damaged or not delivered first time – which brings benefits to customers as well.’
