Representatives of Canada Post spoke to London's Civic Works Committee on Monday hoping to address issues surrounding the placement of community mailboxes.
Installation of the mailboxes is expected to begin across north London in July, with door-to-door delivery in those areas ending in the fall, impacting about 42,000 Londoners.
Many who are opposed to the end of door-to-door delivery looked on as Canada Post discussed the installation of the so-called superboxes.
Andy Paterson of Canada Post says, "This is change and a lot of people don't like this. A lot of our customers are upset."
A list of specific locations for community mailboxes - which will often be adjacent to or near homes - has not been made public, with only city staff and Canada Post aware of all of the sites.
Paterson explains that the corporation prefers to speak directly with affected neighbours by knocking on doors. They have also offered to meet with neighbourhood association executive members, but will likely not take part in community meetings on the changes.
"When we are ready to let the list go, we konw that this is the site, it's going to go there. We've gone through consultaion, we've talked to the people involved, we're pretty certain this is the best spot and that's where it's going to be, and that's when we'll let people know," Paterson says.
City councillors have expressed concern that the city could incur additional costs as a result of the installation of the new mailboxes, including legal liability, clearing snow from sidewalks and lighting the area.
And residents have expressed concerns about accessibility, safety and the impact on property values, but Paterson says they are being dealt with.
"We've probably door-knocked on about 2,000 homes so far, that we're getting the feedback. I don't have any information on how much are absolutely opposed to having a site next to them, how many have made suggestions for just a little adjustment."
Canada Post will appear in front of the committee once more before the first community mailbox is installed this summer, at which point councillors should have more information about site-specific concerns.
