On 21 Jan 2013 at 2:03pm Sussex Jim wrote:
The Crown Post Office in the county town is closed.
The main (and only) post office in Lewes is shut because, apparently, staff from Shoreham and Hastings cannot get in to work despite all the main roads being clear.
How pathetic. Some people have businesses in Lewes that rely on postal services. Should they now drive out to Barcombe or Ringmer (which they can, or get a taxi) where the Post Offices are still open as normal?
On 21 Jan 2013 at 2:22pm bastian wrote:
clear case of people not being able to live and work in the county town, if only the house prices and rents were lower everything would be open because eveyone could walk to work, oh no! that would put the private rail company out of business, or the soon to be private road toll gates out of business.
On 21 Jan 2013 at 2:38pm E Bayer. wrote:
I was going to town today to post a few parcels and my mate rang me to say the main and only post office in Lewes is shut.
How do I find out of it is open tomorrow to avoid a wasted trip and a return bus fare?
There isn't a direct number to the post office. I think it's an 0845 number.
On 21 Jan 2013 at 4:21pm jrsussex wrote:
For me it is a clear case of many of those not being prepared to make an effort to get into work. Much the same as many of the teachers we heard of on the lunchtime BBC news, schools within the same grounds one open the others closed. If pupils can make it why can't the teachers? Did you see the pupil who walked several miles to school to take an exam and then walked home again. If customers can make it to the post office why can't the counter staff?
Some will be genuine but for many sheer laziness.
On 21 Jan 2013 at 4:31pm prufrock wrote:
A good example in Lewes: Southover School open, Western Road School shut. My older children have been literally locked up in Priory all day as it was deemed too dangerous for them to go outside. No comment required.
On 21 Jan 2013 at 4:38pm rookie wrote:
I went to work. Others, who live closer, didn't. End result is that we all get paid. Where is the incentive?
On 21 Jan 2013 at 5:07pm Adviser wrote:
Lewes Citizens Advice Bureau was fully staffed today - and they are unpaid volunteers, many of whom live outside Lewes town.
It's a disgrace that so many schools were allowed to shut for the day. Teachers always up for a day off?
I always use the PO (and bank) in Ringmer anyway - you can park right outside, for free.
On 21 Jan 2013 at 5:29pm jrsussex wrote:
Make a point of thanking them as I have done today to a number of those who have made the effort, businesses etc, including my grand-children's school.
On 21 Jan 2013 at 5:39pm Jane wrote:
When I walked pass the Post office this morning there was a member of staff waiting outside with the general public only he didn't have key !
On 22 Jan 2013 at 5:02am Horseman7 wrote:
On Monday I went from Lewes to Shoreham and back, using B&H No 28 and 2 buses, with absolutely no problem. Presumably the Shoreham staff could have made the same journey in reverse.
On 22 Jan 2013 at 10:24am red wrote:
@Advisor : yeah, yeah, bash the teachers as usual. Schools shut because litigatious parents will sue if little Timmy falls over in the icy playground.
On 22 Jan 2013 at 1:55pm bastian wrote:
the way I see it, france has saints days, we don't, just a break your neck work ethic, with no fun, no time to play and no time off except Christamas...so this is the British saints day.
On 22 Jan 2013 at 9:32pm Earl of Lewes wrote:
Two words: winter tyres. I've got some for the first time this year and I'm amazed by the difference. Two years ago, I couldn't go to work for a week because my car was at the bottom of a steep hill that was like a ski slope. Now, whenever it snows, I move my car up to level ground and the winter tyres do the rest.
Re: the post office - whoever's managing that branch should have had a contingency plan in place, as it seems to snow every year now.
On 22 Jan 2013 at 10:07pm Fat cow wrote:
What a joke! The staff are useless. Up there!
On 22 Jan 2013 at 10:10pm Expat Two wrote:
That people are taking advantage and having a day off comes as no surprise.
As more and more businesses peg back their employees wages to maximise their profits, itā??s inevitable.
Why would anybody be loyal to an a-hole of an employer? Is this something that we all have to pretend doesn't happen?
On 22 Jan 2013 at 10:11pm Jane S wrote:
The Travelman website suggests Glynde Post Office, which is reachable by train (assuming the trains are running).
On 22 Jan 2013 at 10:43pm brixtonbelle wrote:
Regarding schools closures, many/most teachers do not live locally and have to travel in the same way as other commuters and will be affected by poor roads, safety issues and cancelled trains. Western Road may have staff coming from further afield than Southover. They need to have a minimum amount of staff to continue with normal lessons - if there isn't parents are likely to run up to collect their kids to find they have been watching films in large classes for half the day. Heads also have to make sure the site is safe for kids, otherwise parents will be claiming how irresponsible the school were in opening after little Johnny broke his arm sliding on ice in the playground soon enough. That's exactly why Priory kept the Y10/11 kids indoors, the school probably doesn't have insurance for any possible litigation arising out of injuries sustained in playground due to snow. It's not as simple as claiming teachers are too lazy to turn up for work - I thought you were more intelligent to spout that sort of Daily mail nonsense, JRSX.
It took me four hours (YES) to get to work on Monday via the trains. Runaway cafe told me this morning that nothing ran to Ldn from Lewes until 1.30. THis was purely down to Southern region not completing weekend engineering works and not running trains overnight because of the said engineering works - a complete and utter fiasco because some manager made the wrong decision.
I can't comment on the P Office - the trains on the West Coast and East Coast lines were complete chaos so getting to Lewes was probably very difficult - again Im sure the PO needs minimum staffing levels to open. The local branches are probably run by people in the villages or closer by.
On 23 Jan 2013 at 9:31am Sussex Jim wrote:
There should be a system in place whereby schools have to have a minimum number of teachers who live locally and can walk in. It is not right that parents should have to give up a day's work because their children cannot attend school.
On 23 Jan 2013 at 11:16am Clifford wrote:
How wold you organise that Sussex Jim. Rented accommodation allocated to teachers only or a mortgage subsidy so that could buy somewhere local?
On 23 Jan 2013 at 11:49am JO wrote:
Both my parents were teachers.
I was told, by them, that teachers prefer to live away from the area of the school. This is to reduce the chance of students or others harassing teachers, a situation which, if it arises, is very difficult to resolve without resentment.
On 23 Jan 2013 at 11:56am Deelite wrote:
Well done Brixtonbelle. At last some intelligent and informed comment.
And yes, Barcombe post office is staffed by people who live only a few hundred yards away.
On 23 Jan 2013 at 12:41pm jrsussex wrote:
The point is why does this chaos occur every time we get snow in the UK? Other countries cope far better, and before anyone says "ah, but they have snow every year" let me remind you that so does the UK, albeit to varying degrees but nevertheless we get it.
Is it not disgusting that airports close because of snow when throughout the UK county/district councils manage to keep thousands of miles of motorways and A roads open? Airports have one/two rather wide roads of a couple of miles or so in length yet cannot manage to keep them open despite ample warning of the snow being on its way. I refer to snow NOT poor visibility.
On 23 Jan 2013 at 1:30pm Southover Queen wrote:
I think the question is more about investment and return on that investment. Investing for severe weather is very expensive: for instance, a system for ensuring that trains can run in very low temperatures costs a lot but if you have a predictable three months of deep freeze and you can calculate the loss that being unable to run trains for that period would entail, then you can decide that you'll invest millions because it will save you more millions.
I think that's the dilemma for the airports - the investment has to be proportionate to the amount that avoiding that disruption would save. I'm guessing that so far the sums don't add up.
On 23 Jan 2013 at 2:21pm jocko wrote:
cost/benefit ratio
Accountants know only that equation!
On 23 Jan 2013 at 3:33pm bastian wrote:
we don't throw money at the few days a year that it snows because it's negligable, if this was a country that had snow for a month it would have to budget for it.
Most teachers don't live near schools for exactly the reason quoted by Jo and most support staff can't afford to live close because they don't earn enough.
Why are you moaning about having a day off to look after your kids, go and play with them, quality time is rare in the capitalist world, have some memorable fun with your kids.
On 23 Jan 2013 at 6:43pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
I totally get that it's not worth investing heavily in gritters and snowploughs down here where heavy and/or prolonged snow is rare, but it does get on my whatsits that they never grit the Nevill bus route any more.
Older people or people with kids in pushchairs can't get down the hills to the main road to get into town and it's simply not acceptable to just stop the busses at Nevill Green.
Felt very sorry for all the people stuck on the A23/A27 for hours last night.
On 1 Feb 2013 at 4:11pm Cllr Ashley Price wrote:
Okay, I KNOW this is really old news now, however, I have (finally) received a response from the Post Office on why the branch was shut on 21st Jan.
Many people, including the Sussex Express and even a Post Office spokesman said that it was due to the weekend's heavy snowfall.
I have just received a response from their customer services department to say that "Unfortunately on 21 January 2013 due to high levels of staff sickness the branch did not open"
So you do have to wonder are they trying to make themselves look "better" by saying sickness rather than (supposedly) bad weather?