Dunedin locals upset by rural post delivery

Dunedin locals upset by rural post delivery

A seaside Dunedin village is on the brink of a revolt over New Zealand Post's answer to lost mail.

When sorting transferred to Christchurch a year ago, Karitane locals say very simple mistakes in addresses saw their mail rejected. They're now being moved to rural delivery and have until August 15 to install mailboxes.

Resident Geoff Lyell says there's nothing wrong with the local store's mail service - it's New Zealand Post's "fuzzy logic technology" that needs fixing.

"This is an urban seaside village that fills up with on-street parking and boats and if the car can't get to the mailbox then the mail's not going to be delivered," he says.

Mr Lyell called the store a "little hub" for Karitane residents who come to collect their mail and socialise.

"[It's] like a local water cooler so to speak."

NZ Post  Regional Service Delivery manager Murray Rei says rural delivery has been available in Karitane since 1998 and is encouraging more people to sign up.

"We're moving people onto rural delivery because we want people living in Karitane to be on a service that will get mail to their gate, first time, at no extra cost."

"It'll be a better service because mail will be delivered closer to their properties, five days a week.  It costs nothing to sign up to rural delivery apart from installing a letterbox, which is a one off cost."

He says the problem isn't with the technology but because some addresses aren't registered - signing up to rural delivery means they will be.

"That's going to help fix the problem some people are having now with mail being returned to sender," Mr Rei says.

"We appreciate that the Karitane shop which houses a post centre, store and café is a gathering place for locals, and we're sure it will continue to be a place where people pop in for a catch up."

Along with other locals, Mr Lyell will be presenting the community's case to two New Zealand Post representatives at a public meeting being held on Tuesday night.

Newshub.