Less than two days since Wallendbeen's community postal agency moved from the old garage at the highway roundabout into new premises in the Memorial Hall, people are noticing a nice difference in the heart of the village.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
President of the Wallendbeen Community Association (WCA) Greg Quirk, one of 20 or so locals who volunteer to staff the postal agency for a couple of hours weekday mornings and evenings, said that whereas everyone used to drive to the roundabout, a lot of nearby residents are now walking to pick up their mail, making a "nice bit of activity" in the street.
"For example despite the cold weather one bloke walked over in his thongs yesterday," Mr Quirk said, "and a couple of girls came in after school and picked up a couple of parcels and another came to pick up mail for her mum.
"It's something I hadn't about but it actually felt quite nice when you saw that happening, a modest little bit of commerce with people coming and going."
The community postal agency (CPA), formed after Australia Post told villagers that the normal post office service was being discontinued, is holding a celebration tonight at the Memorial Hall to mark the move into the new premises.
It's invited everyone who'd like to join in to come for free drinks and nibbles, at the Hall at 7pm.
The former licensed post office (LPO) that operated in the near-derelict service station at the crossroads of the Olympic Highway and Burley Griffin Way, closed abruptly at the end of January.
Australia post gave only a fortnight's notice of the closure to residents, advising they would have to get their mail from Cootamundra until a form of street delivery using letterboxes at street corners, could be arranged.
The response was to set up the CPA, which has been operated successfully by the volunteers for the past eight months, with the owners of the old service station allowing them to use the premises while the hall has been prepared, with assistance from the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council.
"The CPA has become a good focus for the community, connecting a lot of people who hadn't previously been connected, which in turn encouraged us to form the WCA," Mr Quirk said.
"While the post office was the initial focus, the association has gone on to bring musical events to Wallendbeen and will be holding a Spring lunch street party to celebrate the 125th anniversary of proclamation as a town.
"There'll be 125 seats at a long table in Hoskins Street, outside the pub, and we've already sold 80 tickets with a lot of former Wallendbeen residents seeing it as an opportunity to come back to Wallendbeen to reconnect with old friends and acquaintances.
"Anyone who'd like a ticket can buy one from the Facebook site."
As well as the lunch, the association is looking at other improvements to bring a bit more life to the village, including walkways and cycle ways, improved signage and a railway-themed attraction.