Ben Langford has a new mailbox but Australia Post won’t deliver to it. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Beelbangera residents say they want Australia Post to start delivering letters to their houses after the only PO box service in the suburb ceases to operate.
“I just moved out to Beelbangera, put a mailbox in my front yard and then realised we don’t even have a mail service,” new resident Ben Langford said.
The national postal service does not deliver mail directly to many residents in surrounding Griffith suburbs, such as Bilbul, Hanwood, Yenda and Beelbangera.
People who live in these areas rely on a local business taking on an Australia Post licence to collect mail and offer PO boxes.
The much-loved Beelbangera General Store provided this service for many years, but the store will close its doors in August; the business is for sale and owner Sam Vasta has handed back the licence.
“Australia Post thanks the licensee [Mr Vasta] for his dedicated service to the Beelbangera community and wishes him all the best following his decision to hand back the licence,” an Australia Post spokesperson said.
“As with many regional communities around Australia, locals in these areas collect their mail from a post office or a PO box.
“Beelbangera post office box customers can continue to access a reduced rate PO box at a nearby location and receive a free 12-month mail redirection.
“Residents without a PO box will be able to collect their mail from the Griffith Delivery Centre (18 Altin Street, Griffith), and can access postal services at surrounding outlets including Griffith East Licensed Post Office and Griffith Post Shop.”
Mr Langford’s neighbour Chelsea Butler said this made life difficult for residents in outer Griffith suburbs.
“I get all my deliveries to my parents’ place in Yoogali, which is inconvenient. My post office box is in Yenda, which is also inconvenient as I have to go there to pick up my mail,” she said.
Griffith’s expansion brings it closer to Beelbangera. Photo: Griffith Free Local News.
Ms Butler said that while it might be tough to deliver mail to all the surrounding farms, those who lived in the township should be serviced.
“I don’t understand why they don’t deliver to our houses; the Australia Post distribution centre is very close to us. We are still within the postcode of Griffith, 2680; it wouldn’t take them long to deliver to us. Even if they just did it once a fortnight,” she said.
Beelbangera is so close to the main town it was recently joked Griffith might soon be renamed ‘West Beelbangera’. Mr Langford agreed it was close enough to be considered a mail delivery zone.
“I lived in a more remote area when I grew up and we had our mail delivered,” he said.
Australia Post said that delivering mail to every house in every small town in Australia would be very expensive and undermine the viability of local businesses that provided a licensed postal service.
Griffith City Councillor and Beelbangera resident Scott Groat said he hoped someone would solve the problem by buying the general store.
“People are in denial about losing such a viable business; I really hope it can be sold,” he said.
Barry Maples has lived in Beelbangera for 53 years and said the town had never had mail delivery directly to houses.
“I think it would be hard for that to happen, as most of the houses don’t have letterboxes out the front,” he said.
“It’s a real pity for the town to lose that service.”
