Emporium Flair Co to deliver Sebastopol Australia Post service

Artisan and gift store Emporium Flair Co is in the process of becoming an Australia Post community postal agent in the suburb, which has been without a post office since early 2021.

The Courier understands the service is likely to be operational from early to mid-October, 2023.

Emporium Flair Co owner Rebecca Duncan said there were still details to confirm on how the postal agency would work but she was proud to play a role in bringing a postal service back to Sebastopol.

"I'm just trying to help out the community and take out a post office," Ms Duncan said. "This is where the old post office was and we've still got the post boxes out the front. It made sense."

Community postal agents are more common in small, regional towns and sit within an existing business.

Ms Duncan's business stocks products from about 70 small businesses, predominantly from the region but with stock coming in from Australia-wide.

A new Australia Post stand in the store this week has been generating excitement in the community.

Sebastopol's post office, on the corner of Albert Street and Birdwood Avenue, had been relocated to Delacombe Town Centre two years ago.

Until then, there had been a post office in various forms in the Borough since 1857.

Sebastopol residents had rallied against the unexpected closure of their suburb's post office when this was announced in December 2020. Two other nearby post offices - Mount Clear and Redan - are within three kilometres of the Sebastopol branch but this has been of little comfort to residents, particularly the community's elderly population.

Australia Post started advertising in late July for expressions of interest in businesses to host a limited post service.

Community postal agents typically offer basic postage services, stamp sales and over-the-counter mail acceptance and delivery. Agents do not take bill payments and banking but Ms Duncan has been keen to explore what might be possible.

Ms Duncan said losing a post office had been tough for a lot of residents, particularly those for whom it has been difficult to navigate their way to other locations.

Emporium Flair Co has been operating from the old post office site for almost a year and, while it had been almost two years since the post office had closed, Ms Duncan still often had people wandering in looking for stamps.

The community also lost its Commonwealth Bank branch in Sebastopol, which had been the suburb's only bank when it closed in May 2020. The bank shut its ATM in August the year later.

Gradually, the suburb has been revitalising and this has been spurred on by a new-look, modern Coles supermarket opening in late June 2022.

More commercial investment is on the way with plans before the City of Ballarat for increased retail and dining options off Albert Street tabled in June 2023.

Sign up to receive The Courier's news alerts straight to your inbox.