The small Hauraki community of Whiritoa is up in arms at the impending loss of its PO Boxes, which are being decommissioned on April 30.
From May 1, the PO Boxes in the mail lobby next to the Whiritoa General Store and Cafe will no longer receive mail as the owners of the store end their contract to provide postal services for NZ Post.
Instead, residents have been advised to purchase and install compliant rural mailboxes on their property, register for Rural Delivery, and update senders with their home address and postcode.
Mail delivery services in the area are also being reduced from five to three days a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Residents were notified of the closure in March by a series of letters from NZ Post.
But some said the change was poorly communicated, and will make things difficult for the more elderly in the region.
“There’s been a lot of miscommunication,” Whiritoa resident Andrea Moore said.
“A lot of our elderly don’t have mobile devices or computers – how do they then change their mail? They have to go to Whangamatā, to the post office, and get a form. A lot of them don’t drive any more.
“[NZ Post] said just fill in the form that came with your last letter, and everyone’s going, I didn’t get a form.”
Andrea, who has been advocating for the community over the issue, has sent an email to NZ Post asking for the boxes to remain open. Her email was accompanied by a petition which gathered over 60 signatures from other Whiritoa residents in just two days.
“The broader consequences of this decision do not appear to have been adequately considered,” Andrea’s email read.
“There are several suitable local sites that would allow for safe, efficient, and discreet placement of PO Boxes… There is strong local commitment to maintaining this essential service.”
The petition suggested the boxes could instead be relocated to the community hall, surf club, or bus shelter, with post delivered to them by the town’s courier driver.
“This solution would provide a single, centralised delivery point for NZ Post, requiring no more than approximately five minutes per day. Importantly, it would not add complexity to delivery schedules and may in fact reduce strain on delivery staff,” the email read.
Other concerns among Whiritoa residents included the extra cost involved in changing to private mailboxes.
“Suddenly they’ve been sprung with this extra cost. [Some] haven’t got a fence that they can put a letter box on. And to dig out the front of their places, they’ve got cables like electricity, sewerage, fibre – they’re going to have to rely on someone to do it for them, let alone buy a letter box and a post and all the rest that goes with it,” resident Jan Mitchell, said.
“And I live down a back section. Where am I going to put the letter box? I’m going to have to put it on my neighbour’s grass verge, either one side of my driveway or the other. I don’t know whether they’ll really like having my letter box stuck out in front of their place, but there’d be nothing I can do.”
Safety was another potential issue, residents said, with some affected addresses located in places where contractors already regularly decline services due to the narrow, winding roads.
“It is very dangerous, particularly in holiday time when the population here increases to 3000-plus,” resident Andrina Thompson said.
When contacted by The Valley Profile, NZ Post regional manager Robert Tousoon said the company was committed to providing mail to Whiritoa, and was working hard to ensure a smooth transition to the rural delivery service.
“We appreciate the feedback local residents have shared with us about the move from PO Boxes to rural home delivery,” he said.
“We understand that this will be an adjustment for the Whiritoa community and may be challenging for some residents.
“To help with this, we’ve communicated directly with residents through recent letters to make sure they understand what’s happening and know what they need to do to receive rural home mail delivery. Information on rural mailbox specifications was included in all letters sent to residents, and further information is also available at the Whangamatā PostShop and on the NZ Post website.”
The Profile was unable to reach the Whiritoa General Store and Cafe for comment.
