By Michael Newhouse
RESIDENTS in the newly created suburb of Cairnlea are gearing up for a fight over access to postal services as the new Cairnlea town centre prepares to open next month.
Earlier this month the Cairnlea Residents Association gathered signatures for a petition calling for an Australia Post outlet in the new town centre.
Treasurer of the association Jason Rooth said he planned to present the petition, signed by 246 households and representing around 960 residents, to Australia Post in the next couple of weeks.
Residents say they are frustrated at having to travel to Brimbank Central Shopping Centre in the neighbouring suburb of Deer Park to access postal services – something that will become even more of a problem when the township actually opens, according to residents.
“When the Cairnlea township comes they’ll do their shopping there,” Mr Rooth told Star last week, stressing that for residents to go to Deer Park just for postal services would be an unnecessary burden.
“For us it’s a convenience thing,” he said, “you want a one-stop-shop.”
Spokesperson for Australia Post Gale Mantovani told Star the company was yet to receive any formal request from the residents group, but doubted there would be any need for a new outlet in the area.
There are currently five Australia Post outlets within three kilometres of the Cairnlea township, in Caroline Springs, Deer Park St, Albans and Ardeer.
“At this point in time we would not consider that an additional outlet would be justified,” Ms Mantovani said.
She said there were commercial considerations to weigh up, saying that they have to be careful not to damage the profitability of current Australia Post outlets in the area, most of which were owned and run by members of the local community.
“However, as I said, we do keep a close eye on areas of population growth such as Cairnlea/St Albans, and although we would not currently be looking at putting in another postal outlet, this is not to say that we would rule it out in the future,” she said.
VicUrban, the Victorian Government agency responsible for developing the Cairnlea estate, said it supported the push by the Cairnlea Residents Association to build up the area into a thriving community, but said they should go through the appropriate Australia Post channels.
At present there are more than 3000 residents living in the developing Cairnlea township, with the population expected to grow to 10,000 in the next couple of years once the development is completed.
