Royal Mail decision to cut ‘lifeline’ news delivery in north-west is ‘short-sighted’, say residents

Royal Mail have come under criticism after it was announced that a “lifeline” north-west Sutherland postal delivery service will be cut at the end of June.

Elderly residents in outlying villages across the north-west have relied upon the Rural Newspaper Delivery Service (RNDS) to receive news and magazine titles to their door via Royal Mail for decades.

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But in a letter to local stores in April, the postal service confirmed that they would be withdrawing the service, branding the service as no longer “commercially viable”.

The letter stated: “We need to ensure our services are reflective of cost and our changing operational network and processes. Usage of the Rural Newspaper Delivery Service has declined in recent years, and it is no longer commercially viable to provide this service.”

The RNDS will cease as of June 30.

Strathnaver resident Kevin Innes is in his sixties, and having settled into rural life he feels cutting services like the RNDS is “short-sighted”.

He said: “A few weeks ago when paying for our papers at the Bettyhill shop I was told that Royal Mail are stopping the service.

“So if I want my paper I now need to drive an 18-mile round trip to get it. What about the older folk who can’t drive anymore, where the paper is their lifeline?

“I see on the news the SNP want to cut down on car use. This will only make folk use cars more.

“On top of that, previously if you couldn’t get to Thurso and your Tesco order is a few days away we could always call the shop at Bettyhill and the postman would drop off what you need.

“Whether it was some bread or milk. That’s all stopping now.

“I just think it’s so short sighted. It does not cost Royal Mail anything and it’s a great service.”

Pete Malone, who runs Bettyhill General Merchants, believes that Royal Mail are at odds with their own definition of a key worker in cutting the service, which he notes was outlined for postal workers in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.

“I cannot reconcile the two positions,” he said. “This, along with the closure of the SPDO offices in all the outlying rural areas is yet another blow to the future viability of the rural post office network.

“We have a lot of customers who rely on the RNDS to get their news and, as well as providing a service for us, act as a regular checkpoint to make sure that the most elderly are okay.

“For some people, the postie is the only regular daily contact that they have.

“The RNDS is pretty much an older people’s service. Younger people can either drive or get their news through other media.

“But daily contact with another living soul can be quite important either in terms of mental health or even just a physical check to make sure the person is okay.”

Mr Malone also believes that some offices can be accused of “wilful delay of mail” to allow them to deliver “more profitable” parcel post.

He added: “Royal Mail have been shown the last two years to have been concentrating on their parcel delivery service at the expense of letter post.

“Falling letter volumes mean that the cost of processing the mail is higher compared to parcels even with mechanical sorting.

“Letters still need to be hand sorted at some part of the process and that is costly. Parcels are far easier.

“Royal Mail does not want to be a letter carrier – they want to be a parcel courier.”

Royal Mail has been contacted for comment.

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