Residents question post office closure

THE impending relocation of Sebastopol’s post office from Albert Street to the Delacombe Town Centre in early February as some people in the area worried.

With the recent closure of the area’s Commonwealth Bank branch due to COVID, lifetime Sebastopol resident Ian Rowe said people have been relying on the post office to complete their banking.

“I was very annoyed when I found out they were shutting,” he said.

“People do their banking and pay bills and all sorts of stuff here so I hope we can pressure Australia Post to keep it open.

“To have to go to DTC for anyone that doesn’t drive would have to catch a bus into the city and catch a bus back, it would make things very difficult.”

While accompanying a group of residents rallying against the post office’s projected closure, Federal Member for Ballarat Catherine King called on Australia Post to reverse the decision or put the franchise up for tender.

“I’m really angry about this and I wrote to Australia Post a few weeks ago because I don’t think they’ve understood how important this post office is to the local community,” she said.

“It’s not just about mail, it’s also about the services provided here … it’s fantastic for the Delacombe community that they’re opening a post office out there, but it’s also needed here.

“After the year that they’ve had, I would have thought they would want to win hearts and minds and this is certainly not what they’ve done with this decision.”

Noting that Mt Clear and Redan LPO’s are in a three-kilometre radius of the existing Sebastopol site, an Australia Post spokesperson said the business has outgrown the premises and requires a larger shop to better service the existing customer base.

“The licensee at the Sebastopol LPO has decided to relocate their business to the Delacombe Town Centre on 6 February,” the spokesperson said.

“The relocation will allow them to better support the growth in the surrounding area, as the outlet is currently servicing many of these customers as their parcels are carded to the outlet.”

City of Ballarat South Ward representative Cr Des Hudson said while he understands the commercial decision to relocate, Sebastopol still needs its own post office.

“For an aging community, a lot of people who require post office to do their banking, pay bills and do all those sorts of things and don’t have the means to get to DTC easily nor are they familiar with technology to go online and pay,” he said.

“There’s also a big rural community of Magpie and Ross Creek that come in here as well … so it’s a loss to all of them of a critical service without any consultation.

“The growth of Delacombe and DTC shouldn’t come at the detriment of this community.”