THE impending relocation of Sebastopol\u2019s post office from Albert Street to the Delacombe Town Centre in early February as some people in the area worried.<\/p>\n
With the recent closure of the area\u2019s Commonwealth Bank branch due to COVID, lifetime Sebastopol resident Ian Rowe said people have been relying on the post office to complete their banking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very annoyed when I found out they were shutting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople do their banking and pay bills and all sorts of stuff here so I hope we can pressure Australia Post to keep it open.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have to go to DTC for anyone that doesn\u2019t drive would have to catch a bus into the city and catch a bus back, it would make things very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
While accompanying a group of residents rallying against the post office\u2019s projected closure, Federal Member for Ballarat Catherine King called on Australia Post to reverse the decision or put the franchise up for tender.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really angry about this and I wrote to Australia Post a few weeks ago because I don\u2019t think they\u2019ve understood how important this post office is to the local community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just about mail, it\u2019s also about the services provided here \u2026 it\u2019s fantastic for the Delacombe community that they\u2019re opening a post office out there, but it\u2019s also needed here.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the year that they\u2019ve had, I would have thought they would want to win hearts and minds and this is certainly not what they\u2019ve done with this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noting that Mt Clear and Redan LPO\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe licensee at the Sebastopol LPO has decided to relocate their business to the Delacombe Town Centre on 6 February,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor 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\u2019t have the means to get to DTC easily nor are they familiar with technology to go online and pay,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s also a big rural community of Magpie and Ross Creek that come in here as well \u2026 so it\u2019s a loss to all of them of a critical service without any consultation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe growth of Delacombe and DTC shouldn\u2019t come at the detriment of this community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE impending relocation of Sebastopol\u2019s 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\u2019s Commonwealth Bank branch due to COVID, lifetime Sebastopol resident Ian Rowe said people have been relying on the post office to complete their […]<\/p>\n