{"id":59211,"date":"2026-03-13T14:45:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/?p=59211"},"modified":"2026-03-13T14:45:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:45:38","slug":"mixed-response-as-royal-mail-rolls-out-new-postboxes-of-the-future-across-south-yorkshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/mixed-response-as-royal-mail-rolls-out-new-postboxes-of-the-future-across-south-yorkshire\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixed response as Royal Mail rolls out new ‘Postboxes of the future’ across South Yorkshire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As Royal Mail rolls out 3,500 new ‘futuristic’ postboxes, people in South Yorkshire have given a cautious response to the new tech. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Existing postboxes are being transformed, they will feature a solar panel that powers a barcode scanner, along with a larger drop down drawer for sending shoe box sized parcels (44cm x 35cm x 16cm).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aim is to allow for effortless parcel drop offs at any time and to reduce the need for customers to visit the Post Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florence Smith, who is an online seller for Vinted, said: \u201cIt will be very helpful for me as when I need to post a parcel quickly, I will be able to go down the road to the postbox rather than to the post office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, some people are unhappy and becoming frustrated with the amount of time it is taking for the modernisation, leaving many with no local postbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roy Granger said: \u201cI think the postal service has all gone downhill, the postboxes have been taped up for so long now that I have had to start going to the post office anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To post a parcel, customers will have to scan the barcode on the label; the barcode scanner is powered by a solar panel, meaning the system is sustainable, the drawer will then open so they can deposit the parcel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customers can also request proof of posting on the Royal Mail app, which has been updated to work with the new postboxes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent times, there has been a decrease in the amount of people using postboxes, with an annual rate of decline of 5% from 2005 to 2021, according to The Strategic Mailing Partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yasmin Rhodes said: \u201cI tend not to post things now, it\u2019s too expensive and takes too long, so the postboxes being changed doesn’t really bother me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, the number of parcels being sent has increased, with total parcel volumes increasing by 8.3% in 2023, according to Ofcom\u2019s Post Monitoring Report 2023-24. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Royal Mail says the \u2018Postboxes of the future\u2019 are designed to complement the 115,000 traditional postboxes located within a half mile of 98% of addresses, and not replace them, the rollout is to be completed by this Spring. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Royal Mail rolls out 3,500 new ‘futuristic’ postboxes, people in South Yorkshire have given a cautious response to the new tech. Existing postboxes are being transformed, they will feature a solar panel that powers a barcode scanner, along with a larger drop down drawer for sending shoe box sized parcels (44cm x 35cm x […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":267,"featured_media":59212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[132,166],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories","category-top-story-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/267"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59211"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59257,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59211\/revisions\/59257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}