Craigieburn Plaza traders are appealing to the federal government for Australia Post not to abandon the town’s old shopping centre, citing fears the post office’s closure would detrimentally affect businesses and the elderly.
Craigieburn Cake Kitchen owner Haydn Gregson has started a petition asking the federal government to reconsider closing the plaza’s post office or establish a franchise or scaled-down store.
So far, about 1400 fellow shopkeepers and Craigieburn residents have signed the petition, which will be submitted to the House of Representatives standing committee on petitions this week.
The post office is due to relocate from the plaza to Craigieburn Central, 3.5 kilometres away, in June. An Australia Post spokeswoman said the relocation was in response to the shift of retailers and customer foot-traffic to the new shopping centre.
“Like other retailers in Craigieburn Plaza, Australia Post has experienced a decline in customer numbers since Craigieburn Central opened,” she said.
Mr Gregson, whose cake shop opened with Craigieburn Plaza in the 1990s, said he respected Australia Post’s commercial decision to move but added, “they’ve cut us off at the knees” by shifting BPAY and banking services to Craigieburn Central.
He said elderly shoppers would be forced to travel farther to access mail services and fewer people would be inclined to shop at Craigieburn Plaza.
Federal McEwen MP Rob Mitchell said Australia Post had promised to consult plaza businesses about further developments.
Red and gold street post boxes are expected to remain at the plaza, with all postal staff being moved across to Craigieburn Central.
