Australia Post were excited to confirm they have received applications from a number of well-qualified parties to maintain postal services in Grenfell.

The confirmation comes as Australia Post works to secure a new licensee for the Grenfell Post Office following the decision by long-standing operators Steve and Karen Makin to retire after more than two decades of running the LPO.

"Australia Post has recently concluded an Expressions of Interest process to ensure continued postal services in the Grenfell area following the decision by the current Licensed Post Office operators to retire after 20 years,” an Australia Post spokesperson said.

“We know how important these services are to the community and we’re pleased to confirm that we received applications from a number of well-qualified parties.”

Karen said the decision to retire was not made lightly and followed more than a year of consideration and having the business for sale on the market for a few years already.

“With over 200 customers on average a day, numerous phone calls and parcel locating, we are kept very busy,” Karen said.

“As you can probably tell, this decision wasn’t entered into lightly and we have been deciding what to do for over 12 months.”

Steve is a Grenfell local and with two sons and their families still in Grenfell, Steve and Karen have no intention of leaving town but they do look forward to spending some time visiting their other son and family in New Zealand.

“This also means that we could provide some relief work to the incoming licensees if required,” Karen added.

Reflecting on their time at the Post Office, Karen said the role had been about far more than mail and parcels.

“The highlight of operating the Grenfell LPO is that we have shared many occasions with our Post Office family.

“We will miss sharing the good times and the sad times, stories and milestones, the travel plans and new family additions.”

“Owning a post office for over 21 years in a small town is less about profit, more about relationships and reliability," Karen added.

Australia Post said they look forward to sharing an update as soon as they can and thank Steve and Karen for their continued dedicated service to the community in the meantime.