Excluded from new quick mail

Dunedin has been left out of the new business mail network that will be set up to replace Fast Post.

Yesterday New Zealand Post announced Fast Post would be axed at the end of the year.

A new priority mail system for businesses would operate in and between Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.

The state-owned enterprise cited declining mail volumes and said Fast Post accounted for just 1% of mail.

A New Zealand Post spokeswoman said more than 85% of Fast Post was sent to Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, and 65% of Fast Post was sent from those places.

''It is therefore cost-effective to have a business priority mail service product in these cities.

''We will be working with our Dunedin business customers to offer them alternative priority mail services from January, as we will be doing in other parts of the country not covered by the new product,'' the spokeswoman said.

As part of the changes, international inbound mail would be delivered under the standard network, taking up to three working days to deliver.

Postal Workers Union southern district spokesman John Maynard said Fast Post had been ''set up to fail'' in recent years.

Many southern businesses, schools, and other organisations, such as Southern District Health Board, have switched to private provider DX Mail.

Mr Maynard said New Zealand Post had not been providing a fast and efficient service and customers lost confidence. Private players like DX Mail had a big foothold in the market because of New Zealand Post's poor performance.

''All of the things they have been doing have been undermining their own Fast Post business.''

The union objected to a price hike that took effect on July 1.

''We said to them: 'Instead of putting the price up, you should fix the service'.''

Enterprise Dunedin director John Christie was not impressed by the changes, both the axing of Fast Post and the exclusion of Dunedin from the new network.

''It's always disappointing when you get left out of being considered.''

The city's smaller mail volume should not be the sole consideration, he said.

eileen.goodwin@odt.co.nz