Indigo Shire Council is urging people to sign a petition being circulated in Beechworth asking Australia Post to review its decision to convert the Beechworth Post Office into a licensed post office early in the new financial year.

The petition will be on display until Sunday June 18^th and will be presented to the office of Federal Member for Indi Ms Sophie Panopoulos.

Indigo Shire Council Mayor Cr Peter Graham said a petition was circulating in the town and a copy was now available at the Indigo Shire Council Beechworth Customer Service Centre.

He said community members were encouraged to drop into the Beechworth office to sign the petition or to sign one of the many copies being distributed in Beechworth businesses.

“We need to get as many people we can to put pen to paper so they can make ourselves heard and to get this decision overturned,” he said.

“In addition to Council’s support for this petition, Council has written to Australia Post to express its dismay at the decision and the resounding reasons why this should not go ahead,” he said.

“We are very disappointed there has been no response from Australia Post to this letter written, especially considering the increasing community concern over the future of the Beechworth Post Office.

 “The removal of the post office from the current location is not appropriate for Beechworth and would be a terrible mistake to lose its ties with the current iconic Beechworth building.

“The post office at Beechworth has been operating for over 140 years and during this time there has been a huge accumulation of local knowledge that has been passed down from each generation of staff to the next.”

Cr Graham said the Beechworth community benefited greatly from this knowledge through efficiency of delivery and an understanding of their individual needs. The community does not want to lose this, nor should they have to.

He said many of the 700,000 tourists thought it was wonderful when they could walk into a 140 year old post office in an iconic building that was still run by Australia Post; and staffed by people who felt a deep bond with the town, the building and its history.

“Beechworth has not abandoned its cultural and physical heritage for a quick buck and a short-term fix. This has been the key to its current success and the pathway to its future,” Cr Graham said.

“It is a shame Australia Post does not share Council’s approach and that it is prepared to sacrifice its’ heritage and the jobs of locals for a few dollars on a half a billion dollar bottom line.

“We encourage Australia Post to reconsider its decision on light of this and engage in the exploration of alternative pathways with the Beechworth community.

“By doing so it may well have the opportunity to better fulfil its customer service obligation to “reasonably meet the social ….needs of the community”  than is the case at present.”