Just a week after NZ Post announced it will close the Oamaru North End Post Shop, a petition is being circulated on Change.org to keep the post office open.
‘‘Without accessible public transportation options, such as buses, many Oamaru residents would find themselves isolated and unable to fulfil their daily needs.
‘‘Our town does not provide a bus service, and not everyone has access to a vehicle. This makes the North End Post Shop indispensable,’’ petition creator Lisa Carter said on the Change.org website.
‘‘Keeping the North End Post Shop open is crucial for preserving the independence, dignity, and connection to essential services for so many in our community. We need our local leaders and postal service decision-makers to understand just how important this facility is to us all.’’
It already has 290 signatures.
Waitaki district councillor Mata’aga Hana Fanene-Taiti said she was ‘‘really saddened’’ to hear of the post shop’s planned closure.
‘‘Our local North End Post Shop contributes a lot for our community. It’s situated in a pivotal retail hub in the north end.
‘‘It speaks to the heart of our local identity in rural Aotearoa and ensuring accessibility of important services we hold dear to our community and not only our north end residents.
‘‘I drive past daily and always appreciate the flurry of activity and traffic around this part of town. I always appreciate being able to pop in there, being a North End resident myself, and wish to thank Jan and Paul for their dedication and commitment to ensuring our local services were available for us to access.’’
NZ Post said its decision was ‘‘evidence based’’.
‘‘The focus of the changes has been to make sure we have the right mix of stores and services in the right locations,’’ a NZ Post spokesperson said.
‘‘We determined this through a careful, evidence-based process that analysed detailed customer patterns and retail network data to understand how people are using NZ Post today, especially the growth in parcel sending and collection.
‘‘We also took a detailed look at drive time data and engaged with our retail partners so we could understand where changes made sense.
‘‘Ensuring access to our services is one of our top priorities and the approach we have taken has allowed us to design a retail network that achieves the goal noted above about the right mix of stores and services in the right locations, and ensuring access for communities while keeping the network sustainable for the future.’’
The spokesperson said there were ‘‘no immediate’’ changes planned for the physical posting boxes at the site.
‘‘However, this may be reviewed in future.’’
Oamaru North End Post Shop owners Paul and Jan Denny are appealing NZ Post’s decision.
NZ Post consumer general manager Sarah Sandoval told the Oamaru Mail assessing any concerns of retail partners was a priority.
‘‘We’re dedicating the time needed to thoroughly review any concerns and feedback raised with us by retail partners and will provide a written response once that’s been completed.’’
In total, NZ Post is planning to close more than 140 post offices nationwide.
