Belconnen post office manager Bradley Stanhope with the Belconnen Owl statue

Bradley Stanhope, manager of the Belconnen post office was the driving force behind the development of the new postmark.

11 March 2022

Sending a letter from the Belconnen post office any time soon? The recipient might get a real hoot out of it.

Belconnen’s landmark sculpture, the Powerful Owl, has been symbolised as the region’s postmark by Australia Post. The stamp will now feature on outbound mail from the Belconnen post centre.

A postal worker will stamp the postmark, an imprint that indicates the date and place, onto letters and parcels when the item enters the Australia Post mailing system.

The famous sculpture, made by Bruce Armstrong, was commissioned in 2011 and depicts Ninox Strenua, the largest owl species in Australia. Ninox Strenua is an occasional visitor to the ACT and has been sighted in the Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra Nature Park and Namadgi National Park.

The postmark will begin to appear from 12 May 2022, which is 11 years after the Owl statue’s official unveiling in 2011.

Bradley Stanhope with stamp of new postmarkBradley Stanhope, manager at the Belconnen Post office.

Bradley Stanhope, manager of the Belconnen post office was the driving force behind the stamp’s development and is ecstatic to see the stamp through to completion.

“The idea of a permanent Belconnen pictorial postmark was initially pitched by one of our team members, I then looked into the process and submitted our application to the Australia Post head office in Melbourne,” said Bradley.

“Postmarks are usually released earlier in the year but because of the significance of the 12th of May, we decided to delay the release to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the statue."

“I’ve been surprised already with the amount of interest we’ve had outside of Belconnen and from collectors. Earlier this week we received a self-addressed letter from Japan requesting the new postmark.”

New Belconnen postmarkBelconnen’s new permanent pictorial postmark will begin appearing on 12 May 2022.

Although the postmark will not appear on all outgoing mail, customers can make a request to have their mail stamped when they post from the Belconnen post office.

To find out more about the postmark, visit the Australia Post website.

For more information on the Belconnen Owl statue, visit the Arts ACT website.

Belconnen

Share this article:

Subscribe to the OUR CBR newsletter

Get the latest stories in your inbox