Hampton Australia Post outlet to close on April 21, upsetting local residents

Older Bayside residents are reeling at news their local post office is shutting, with fears the closure will leave many in the lurch.

Residents joined Goldstein federal Independent MP Zoe Daniel to protest the closure of Hampton post office.

Australia Post is under fire for its decision to close a post office in Hampton, with locals rallying to save the “essential service”.

Australia Post will close the Hampton Post Shop in Hampton St on Friday April 21, citing a “substantial drop in customer visits”.

But a large group of residents and traders, together with Goldstein federal Independent MP Zoe Daniel, held a protest outside the post office last week to vent their disappointment at the decision.

Committee of Hampton Neighbourhood Association member David Osborn said it was a busy post office with three counters that always had queues.

“It is an essential service for older community members that cannot pay their bills and manage their affairs over the internet,” he said.

“Hampton Street traders and the rest of the community are going to have to get in their cars to find a post office to send and receive parcels and mail or use a post office box.”

It follows the recent closure of an Essendon post office branch, which was labelled as akin to ripping out the heart of the suburb.

The Blackburn post office in Chapel St has also shut its doors.

An Australia Post spokesperson said closing a post office was never an easy decision, however over the past five years the Hampton St outlet had seen a substantial drop in customer visits.

“The surrounding area is extremely well-serviced, with 18 post offices within a 5km radius, including the Hampton North Post Office just 800m further up Hampton Street,” the spokesperson said.

All Hampton Post Office staff have been redeployed into permanent positions at surrounding outlets or closer to home.

But Mr Osborn said many of the alternative outlets were up to several kilometres away with the closest near South Rd having only one counter and no post office boxes available.

“There are access and parking issues getting to the rest,” he said.

Mr Osborn said the state government had created a development zone around Hampton railway station to create higher density housing close to services.

“We have 400 apartments under construction now, but Australia Post is leaving town on less than a month’s notice without a workable alternative,” he said.

“Bayside Council estimates there will be 1350 apartments (including the 400 under construction) in central Hampton within 10 years.”

Bayside City Council said it would continue to advocate for the reconsideration of the decision to close the post office and/or investigate opportunities for postal services to be relocated with another service provider within the Hampton activity centre.