Residents travel miles to collect mail due to dispute

Residents of an Angus caravan park need to make a 14-mile round trip to Dundee to collect their post amid a row between the owners and Royal Mail.

Barry Downs Caravan Park in Carnoustie has around 300 permanent residents, who have been left in limbo after it stopped receiving mail to its reception building.

Many homes are owned under a residential licence and the park claims this means Royal Mail is responsible for delivering to individual addresses.

However, the reception stopped receiving post before Royal Mail implemented the delivery route – forcing residents need to travel to the firm’s East Delivery Office to collect their mail.

Barry Downs residents’ 14-mile round trip to collect mail

A letter dated September 29 warned Barry Downs residents that reception would no longer accept post from Royal Mail or any other delivery service from October 1.

The letter read: “This decision was a hard one to make but overall one that had to be made.

“Now we are at a point again where we have over 300 council tax-paying park homes on the site and is the council’s/Royal Mail’s duty to deliver to each individual home.”

Park owner Andrew Young told The Courier he has “worked tirelessly over the past five months to get this over the line”.

He added: “Dundee East did absolutely nothing from July 8 to October 1 to implement any plans or even speak to us about the matter.

“On July 8 our office was removed by Royal Mail from the Postcode Address File (PAF), and we could no longer accept mail from that date.

“Dundee East is still holding people’s mail and not delivering.”

Royal Mail ‘establishing routes’ at Barry Downs

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We were given notice of changes to the site and have since been planning for deliveries to be made directly to residents.

“This is an ongoing process as we establish routes and resourcing.

“In the short-term, we have created a customer collection point at our local delivery office for residents to collect their mail.”

Meanwhile, the Tayside Valuation Joint Board confirmed residential homes have been added to the Council Tax register.

A spokesperson said: “Tayside Valuation Joint Board, in carrying out their statutory function, have made entries in the Council Tax List at Barry Downs under the terms of the Local Govt Finance Act 1992 where appropriate.

“Any issues around delivery of mail are between the residents and Royal Mail and not connected to the function of the Assessor.”