Cooya Beach locals receive the letter they were hoping for
Shire services
Cooya Beach residents are busy adding “buy a letterbox” to the to-do list after a long-running campaign to bring Australia Post mail deliveries to the region has finally paid off.
Australia Post wrote to Cooya residents late last month to advise that a postal service is starting on Tuesday, October 6.
The letter outlined that discounted rates for postal boxes would no longer be available once the service began, and letterboxes needed to follow strict size and placement guidelines for the motorbike posties to use them.
Long-time campaigner Catherine Rosenbauer posted the latest development online for residents who may not have seen the Australia Post letter.
“Good to know that persistence pays off,” she wrote.
An Australia Post survey of the region was conducted in 2022, and Ms Rosenbauer wrote to Australia Post again late last year, receiving a letter back in April advising that the service would be starting up.
Several Cooya residents celebrated the news with online posts, including: “Yay… no paying for a post box and no having to go check if something’s arrived,” and: “Thank you so much for continuing to try. This is great news.”
Douglas Shire Council released a statement last week outlining what residents had to do when putting in a mailbox.
“To protect public safety, maintain access to Council infrastructure and minimise conflicts with underground services, Council requests that mailboxes be installed on private property, immediately inside the property boundary, rather than within the road reserve or verge,” the Council stated.
Australia Post advises residents' post boxes have to be bigger than 33cm by 23cm by 16cm.
“Your letterbox must be installed at the edge of your property and positioned so that it can be safely and easily accessed by a delivery vehicle,” the Australia Post letter stated.