Tallangatta residents have been left hung out to dry by the sudden closure of the town’s post office after it shut its doors.
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Australia Post is directing customers to Wodonga, 40km away, to pick up post office box mail and parcels.
Resident Jenny King said the whole town would be affected with many members of the community relying on the service to pay bills.
“We’re only a small town but it affects a lot of people,” she said.
“People relied on it to pay bills, get money out, posting letters, picking up parcels, sending parcels.”
Ms King said the post office had been the only option for ANZ Bank customers after the banking services available in the town’s IGA switched this week to Bendigo Bank.
“I’m with the ANZ bank and they had an agency down in the supermarket which closed,” she said.
“I got a letter from ANZ in Melbourne telling me I could now go to the post office to pay bills, otherwise, I can go in to Wodonga, but I haven’t got a car.”
Ms King said the closure came with no warning.
“We just don’t know (what’s happening), no one has said anything,” she said.
An Australia Post spokesman said no existing roadside mail delivery service would be affected but other services would need to be accessed at the Wodonga post office on High Street.
“We are currently looking for a new operator to take on the provision of postal services to the community,” he said.
“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and are doing everything possible to ensure residents have ongoing access to postal services in Tallangatta.”
Resident Barbara McLarty said the previous owners closed the doors on Tuesday.
“She said, “I’m not going anymore”, and I asked her why, and she said the sale fell through,” she said.
“They pulled a truck up and pulled everything out yesterday.
“She was a lovely person, it’s very sad.”
Towong Shire mayor David Wortmann said the shire had received no correspondence from Australia Post, aside from the same statement sent to The Border Mail.
“I am a bit shocked, to tell you the truth,” he said.
“Whether it was privatised or if it’s an Australia Post official agency, I don’t know.
“I would have expected, if it was an official agency, they would have consulted us a bit.”
Cr Wortmann said mail was being sorted at the town’s Memorial Hall but advised residents to direct inquiries to Wodonga.
“What’s going to progress in the next few days, I’ve got no idea,” he said.
“We will endeavour to get more information.”
