The Walk takes its last post

By Kath Gannaway
AUSTRALIA Post will permanently close its Post Shop at Healesville Walk on Thursday.
The announcement came last week after the Shire of Yarra Ranges granted a permit for the installation of 140 post boxes at the Licensed Post Office at Healesville Newsagency in Maroondah Highway (Newsagency/LPO).
The permit clears the way for the owners of the Newsagency/LPO to carry out work required to improve disability access, parking and security.
While Australia Post is hailing the centralisation of services to the Newsagency/LPO as an opportunity for customers to enjoy extended hours and a bright new shopfront, there was no joy at Healesville Walk – or from the union – after a hard-fought campaign to save The Walk shopping centre PostShop.
Conditions of the permit include extending an existing landing across the full width of the laneway between Maroondah Highway and the River Street carpark, and the provision of car parking behind the Newsagency/LPO building.
Cr Jeanette McRae was successful in pushing for 14 of the 140 boxes to be located inside the building, and for additional baffled exterior lighting to provide a higher level of security around the exterior post boxes.
An agreement must also be struck between the Newsagency/LPO owners and the Sunday Community Market Committee to ensure vehicle access to the new carpark spaces when the market is operating. Cr McRae said while there was strong community opposition to the closure of The Walk PostShop, council’s involvement was limited to dealing with the planning permit application for the additional post boxes.
“Australia Post needs to look at the way they deal with communities when they close or make changes to postal services, but they are separate issues,” she said.
“The shire will not be contributing to the cost of these improvements and I believe it has been a win for us to achieve the outcomes in terms of accessibility and security for people using the service,” Cr McRae said.
Spiros Stivactas, a trader at The Walk, said it was Walk businesses and the community who would feel the effect of losing an essential service and the inconvenience of having to move between the two locations.
“It was worth the fight, to hear people speak out and join together as a community, but as for a result, it was a waste of time,” he said. “They (Australia Post) had made up their minds from the beginning,” he said.
Rob Johnson, who led the community campaign against the closure of The Walk PostShop declined to comment on either the permit, or the final closing date.
While John Hogg of the Communications Workers Union said the union is still in dispute with Australia Post over the closure, he conceded once the corporate PostShop was closed, it would be a tough assignment to get it reopened.
Australia Post has advised that The Walk post boxes will not be moved until the completion of work at the Maroondah Highway outlet.
“Improving the laneway access has taken longer than anticipated and we regret any inconvenience this may cause our customers,” State Communications manager Janice Mancini said.
Ms Mancini said she believed Australia Post had honoured its commitment to extend trading at The Walk.
“The 9 February closing date was only ever intended to be a short-term arrangement. It was our intention to move the box holders and close the outlet at the same time but after an eight-week extension the centralisation of the retail services needs to be finalised,” Ms Mancini said.