Postal services reduced

Postal services in Mangawhai will be concentrated at the Heads sometime this year, when NZ Post withdraws its services from the GAS station in the Village.

The service station has been a NZ Post agency for at least 18 years.

Manager Paul Thurgood says it will be a hit for the business.

“It brings in loads of customers,” he said.

NZ Post general manager consumer Sarah Sandoval says the current retail network is much bigger than is required for today’s mail volumes.

A recent update to the Deed of Understanding, an agreement between NZ Post and the Government, reset the minimum store requirements for the first time since the 1980s.

“While these changes will see NZ Post remove services from 142 urban retail partner stores nationwide this year, the remaining network of 567 stores will still be significantly larger than any New Zealand supermarket or bank branch network. In fact, 90 per cent of Kiwis living in urban areas will still be within four kilometres of a NZ Post store.”

The exact closure date in Mangawhai has yet to be announced, but NZ Post says local timelines will be communicated well before any change.