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11:33 - 04-July-2008
Householders who have asked Royal Mail not to post general, unaddressed junk mail through their letter boxes will not receive the council's new journal "Your Cornwall".
The council last night said that it would launch an investigation into the matter.
"We want everyone to receive a copy - I will be taking the matter up with Royal Mail as a matter of urgency."
The £400,000-a-year cost of running the free, monthly publication has been heavily criticised since it was announced last year that the publication was to be launched. This month sees the first edition being distributed to more than 240,000 homes and businesses.
To individually name and address each copy, extra thousands of pounds would be added to the council's bill.
Earlier this week the WMN revealed that adverts had been left out of the issue because council bosses had not met Royal Mail deadlines. Before Royal Mail can deliver free publications, the company must receive certain information including the number of pages and the weight of the publication.
The council insists the newspaper is necessary to inform people about council business including schools, looking after children and adults in care, highway maintenance and waste disposal. It also argues that by not placing advertisements in the local media, it will prove cheaper.
A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "If some people prefer not to receive unaddressed mail through our Royal Mail Door To Door service they can choose to opt out.
"However, it should be noted though that while you can opt out of receiving all such items it is not possible for Royal Mail to separate material that a customer doesn't want from material they do want. We would advise people to consider very carefully before taking this option.
"People could miss out on important information from councils or government departs if they chose to opt out."
One angry resident from St Day, near Redruth, who wished to remain anonymous, told the WMN he had opted out of the door-to-door service. He said: "As a result "Your Cornwall" has not been delivered to me as the Post Office consider it to be junk mail.
"How am I going to be informed of road closures, planning, statutory notices, salaries and expenses?
"The council has a statutory right to keep me informed of council notices."
Independent councillor Mark Kaczmarek said: "I can understand the council using the unaddressed system to save money. But the point is if they're going to run this newspaper and make sure everyone is going to get a copy then they have to do it properly."
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POST OFFICES are a lifeline in rural areas and should not be a political football. Our local PO is a MUST and can survive with the support of local people. The mood/swing is away from LARGE DICTATORIAL outlets.Times they are a changing.
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