MOUNT Burr residents have reacted with fury over the decision by Australia Post to reinstate postal services to the town on a one-hour per day basis.
Residents have been left in the dark since the sudden closure of the post office last month, which will be reopened at the old Mount Burr mill, claiming a lack of communication and consultation from the government-owned corporation.
The Mount Burr Post Office, which until recently was housed inside the Mount Burr General Store, was closed by Australia Post in May as a result of “unforeseen circumstances”.
Residents claimed they were not forewarned of the closure and were only notified when attempting to collect their mail.
The new post office will open from 10am to 11am Monday to Friday, but will trade “extended hours” from 10am to 5pm next Tuesday for residents to collect new post box keys.
Resident Graeme Mellor said the townsfolk were furious they had been kept in the dark during the month-long interim period.
An undated letter, provided to a majority of residents after the May 18 closure, directed residents to the Millicent, Tantanoola and Kalangaroo post offices to access point of sale and postal services.
The closure forced customers with post office box and front counter mail to make a 20 minute round trip to Millicent to collect letters and parcels.
Mr Mellor said the townsfolk were demanding answers after repeated attempts to seek information from Australia Post had been unsuccessful.
“No one has heard anything apart from what I have heard from the media and passed on,” he said.
“I have tried to contact them via their complaints line, via their Facebook page, I have a number for my complaint, but have not heard a response yet.
“A lot of us have contacted Australia Post via the local member and via the federal member and we are still in the dark and still do not know what’s going on.”
Mr Mellor said a number of residents had planned to boycott the service, citing the “underhanded manner” in which services had been abruptly discontinued.
“I would say three out of five people cannot and are not going to use the service for one hour a day,” he said.
“People have work and other commitments and they cannot just leave that between 10 and 11 to pick up their mail.
“An hour a day is really an insult to people’s intellect.”
Wattle Range Mayor Peter Gandolfi encouraged Australia Post to extend the hours beyond one a day, saying the restricted hours would be inconvenient for those who were working.
“It may be appropriate for Australia Post to establish a household postbox service within the township so deliveries can be made to each household as what occurs in Millicent,” he said.
Member for MacKillop Nick McBride welcomed the reestablishment of a postal service to Mount Burr, but shared the concerns of residents around the limited opening hours.
He said he would continue to advocate to Australia Post “for a service that meets the needs of the residents of Mount Burr”.
Federal Member for Barker Tony Pasin said he would formally write to Australia Post to advocate for extending opening hours “to closer reflect the previous level of service.”
