A small rural general store on the outskirts of Ballarat is waged in a David and Goliath battle with Australia Post over parcel delivery service.
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The Ross Creek General Store has acted as a community postal agent (CPA), or parcel pickup, for Australia Post for at least the past 10 years, and further back was licensed as a full-service post office.
But when its previous owners shut up shop abruptly in December, parcel collection services were transferred to the post office at Delacombe Town Centre, 8km away, or Smythesdale Post Office, almost 7km south.
New owners Anna Paxton and Ben Martin reopened the Ross Creek General Store in April and have applied for the Australia Post parcel collection service to be reinstated at the store.
But their request has been denied, despite strong support from local residents and a petition of about 200 signatures.
Local parcel couriers have also thrown their support behind the store being a parcel drop-off point.
"Everyone is behind us except Australia Post," Ms Paxton said.
"We have a huge elderly population in Ross Creek who can't always get into Delacombe, or young families who struggle to be able to safely get kids out of the car and navigate big parcels.
"We also have a lot of disabled people, and people who struggle with mobility getting in and out of the car, and we can offer a service where potentially they don't have to because we can bring things out to them."
About 60 to 65 per cent of mail coming through Ross Creek is parcels.
The couple took over the lease of the general store, on Sebastopol-Smythesdale Road, in March.
"It took us six weeks to actually find the right person to talk to in Australia Post," Ms Paxton said.
An initial email to a regional manager resulted in advice to forward a request to open the CPA in Ross Creek to an administration team, which Ms Paxton did.
She heard nothing back and spent hours on the phone to Australia Post trying to contact someone who could help her, but it was not until she posted a complaint on the shop's Facebook page that she finally heard back from the institution.
"They said they weren't going to reinstate it because they didn't think it was viable," Ms Paxton said.
An Australia Post spokesperson said the situation would continue to be monitored.
"After careful consideration, Australia Post has decided not to reinstate a Community Postal Agency at the new Ross Creek General Store. This decision has not been made lightly and we apologise to impacted customers," a spokesperson said.
"Since the Ross Creek CPA closed in December 2022, residents have accessed postal services at nearby Delacombe and Smythesdale Post Offices. These locations both provide a wide range of services, including Bank@Post, and are open six days a week.
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"Customers are encouraged to contact us directly on 13 POST if they have any questions."
Customers of Ross Creek General Store posted on Facebook, saying they had put in complaints directly to Australia Post and received a reply 'form replies' about the decision.
"This is a small community, a very close-knit community," Ms Paxton said. "We also live in Ross Creek, we are customers of Australia Post and it's hard for us to get there too.
"In saying that, it also affects our business. You would think Australia Post is supposed to be community-minded but this affects the foot traffic coming through our doors. It was through no fault of our own that the CPA was not held here for a while after the shop shut abruptly in December.
"It will help make this business more viable, which the community wants and loves, and it would be more convenient for everyone."
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