By Jessica Micallef
Sunbury, Bulla and Wildwood residents may notice a change to their mail deliveries.
Australia Post posties in select northern and western suburbs have temporarily become parcel posties to cope with the growing demand of delivering parcels brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Residents within the postcodes 3429 (Sunbury and Wildwood), 3428 (Bulla), 3427 (Diggers Rest and Plumpton) and 3337 (Kurunjang, Melton, Toolern Vale and Melton West) will have their mail and letters temporarily delivered every second business day, or five times each fortnight as a result of the change.
Australia Post general manager Shane Plant said the move was part of temporary changes to Australia Post’s performance standards and services announced in April in response to the pandemic.
“We know people want their parcels quickly and we have been working hard through the pandemic as more and more people turn to online shopping and home delivery,” he said.
“The delivery of letters to metropolitan addresses every second business day will free up some of our people to help deliver the increasing parcel volumes spurred by a boom in online shopping.”
According to Australia Post, the number of online purchases across the state increased by 96 per cent between April and July, compared to the same time last year.
Mr Plant said ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic meant that Australia Post has been experiencing delays with parcel deliveries, including express post.
“Significant reductions in flight capacity, government directions and the additional safety measures we have introduced to protect our people and the community have affected our ability to process and deliver parcels as quickly as we would during our usual peak periods,” he said.
“By moving some of our posties into vans, it will give them the capacity they need to continue to deliver the essential items customers have been ordering online while they are unable to visit the shops.”
