"A PUBLICITY stunt".
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That is how one West Dubbo resident described an exercise that saw local Nationals MPs Mark Coulton and Troy Grant visit many of the 200 houses in West Dubbo whose mail service was suspended by Australia Post after children repeatedly attacked posties.
"The system has let us down," she told the Daily Liberal, and added that making her way to the post office to collect her mail was a hassle she and fellow residents did not need.
"As much as I'd like to have the postie back, the kids are still throwing rocks around here, so it's probably not safe."
The woman was one of several West Dubbo residents who were fed up with being victims of crime and antisocial behaviour, much of it they said was perpetrated by children from a small number of public housing properties.
The MPs delivered letters to the residents to reassure them they had been working with various state and federal agencies to try to find solutions.
Both politicians said they hoped their actions would demonstrate to Australia Post it was time to resume mail services to the streets in question.
But Mr Coulton said Australia Post did not believe any of the solutions offered were acceptable.
He said he and Mr Grant were pursuing the idea of income management for welfare recipients who "are failing to meet their responsibilities".
Mr Coulton said he was encouraged by work the police and Dubbo City Council were doing with mentoring young children, and he was working hard to get a Clontarf academy set up at Dubbo, an initiative that had seen juvenile crime rates drop in other towns.
Mr Grant used his letter to reiterate support for the establishment of a specialist repeat offenders unit to try to break the cycle of crime at Dubbo and its impact on families and the community.
The letters from both Mr Grant and Mr Coulton urged residents to report crime to local police as soon as possible.
Leavers Street resident Steve Green said it was "a bit of a surprise" when Troy Grant knocked on his door on Thursday afternoon.
He said he agreed Mr Grant's income management suggestion could be worth a try inat Dubbo.
"You have to start somewhere, and responsibility has to start with the parents and carers of these kids that are doing the wrong thing," he said.
Mr Green, who last month appeared on national television in a Today Tonight story about the mail delivery suspension, said children were still acting up in the street and he could not blame Australia Post for trying to protect its posties.
"I heard the kids were kicking in a fence in O'Donnell Street last night," he said.
"And yes, they're still mouthing off at me."
Mr Green said he was heartened by a suggestion from Mr Grant that action had commenced against some troublesome public housing tenants, with Housing NSW seeking an eviction in at least one instance.
West Dubbo resident Shayne Evans said a media statement put out by the politicians titled Local Members Deliver Mail in West Dubbo was misleading.
"They didn't deliver our mail, they delivered letters from themselves," he said.
"It's all because the election's coming up."
Meanwhile, it did not appear the residents of the affected West Dubbo streets could expect to see a postie back in their neighbourhood anytime soon.
A spokesperson for Australia Post said the suspension of mail delivery to the area, believed to be an Australian first, was not one taken lightly, and it had "followed repeated acts of threatening and dangerous behaviour by local youths".
"These, in our experience, were not isolated incidents," she said.
"They included on numerous occasions verbal abuse and threats, tampering with delivery motorcycles and throwing rocks at our staff. A similar situation we understand many residents in the area have also experienced.
"At its heart, this is not a mail delivery issue but rather, as Mr Coulton quite rightly pointed out at the recent community meeting, symptomatic of much wider social and community issues in the area. As such, it is not possible for Australia Post to resolve this situation on its own.
"We are, of course, happy to work with the organisations responsible for addressing the social issues in West Dubbo and will carefully consider any suggestions put forward which could result in the resumption of mail delivery services. To date, however, we have not been contacted by any of these agencies."