New life envisaged for Huntly's old post office

The plans would see a cafe, alfresco, outdoor dining area and vegetable garden established at 617 Midland Highway.

Applicants said the modest $100,000 development would help activate the former post office, which is vacant.

Proposed alterations to the adjacent newsagent, which is also part of the property, included painting the front and enlarging a window.

A toilet wall and door would be demolished to allow for construction of a cafe store and new amenities.

A new access would be created out the back, leading through a corridor to the proposed alfresco.

The doorway of the former post office would be widened and an internal ramp would be built to make the cafe compliant with accessibility standards.

Some old letter boxes at the front of the post office would be replaced with a window, and letter boxes at the side of the building would be removed.

"Although there is no heritage overlay applicable to the site, the proposal demonstrates the desire to maintain as much of the existing character of the former post office as possible," Rimmon Martin of e+ architecture wrote.

"The tiled areas of the facade will be maintained, as will the existing timber verandas at the front and side of the building."

He wrote that the site had no opportunities to provide car parking, due to the existing buildings occupying the vast majority of the highway frontage.

"There are no opportunities for access via the sides and rear of the site," the application said.

Property owner Marina Gallagher believed the proposal met a need within the community.

"We're really excited about it," Ms Gallagher said.

Bringing new life to a commercial property that was sitting vacant was part of the project's appeal, for her.

It is not known how long a cafe would take to reach fruition if the application, which the city received on May 1, is successful.