Outrage as InPost Parcel Locker to be removed from Lancashire store
Owners of an off-licence have lost their battle against the council’s decision to remove an InPost Parcel Locker located at the front of their premises. Amir Hussain and his mother Koser Amin, who run Pleasant View Off-Licence on Burnley Road in Crawshawbooth, say the locker is an invaluable asset to the community and its removal would impact hundreds of residents who use the service daily.
More than 200 people have signed an online petition Amir created to fight back against the plans. Koser, who has been running the off licence of 16 years, said: “People are up in arms. This is not about the business, this is about the community.
“Every day that locker gets emptied and filled with between 50 and 60 people a day using it. Residents use this locker all of the time, especially parents with children who have to quickly drop off a parcel before taking their children to school, and people use it at night.”
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Koser says the community rely on the locker for convenient and safe parcel collection and returns and it reduces the risk of theft or misplacement that can occur with doorstep deliveries The InPost Locker conveniently operates independently of the shop and is large enough to fit a number of parcels.
It can also be accessed at all times to handle facilitating parcel collection and returns. Koser says people are frustrated that they will lose a vital service because of the mere fact that the council deem the locker as an ‘eyesore’ and that it ‘sticks out like a sore thumb’.
She says she has seen other businesses in other towns such as Burnley (Joyce’s Convenience Store) and Brierfield (Pam’s Convenience Store) whose respective councils have no issue with a parcel locker outside of a business.
Koser says she received a letter from Rossendale Borough Council in April stating the following: “On account of its prominent position and overtly commercial appearance, the parcel locker appears to be an incongruous addition to the street scene. It is inherently unsuitable to the prevailing residential character of the area.
“As such, it is considered that the parcel locker causes harm to the character and appearance of the street. The enforcement team visited the site and after discussing it with colleagues, they concluded that it was unacceptable due to the harmful visual impact and because of this it was in the public interest to act.”
Koser says the council took photos of the locker outside of her shop earlier this year and then she received a letter stating that she had to have planning permission. Rossendale Borough Council then rejected the application in September for retrospective planning permission submitted by InPost.
The parcel locker, which had only been fitted last December, has now been removed. Koser says the removal of the InPost Parcel Locker at the convenience store means residents have to travel to other places with a locker such as Spa petrol station in Rawtentsall.
To view the petition, visit Change.Org and find the page ‘Stop Rossendale Council from Removing the Inpost Locker’. Rossendale Council and Leader of the Council councillor Alyson Barnes were contacted for comment.