Stratford will experience a reduction in mail delivery days sooner rather than later, as the town is listed among the first of the smaller centres to experience the changes announced last week by New Zealand Post.
NZ Post mail and communications chief operating officer Ashley Smout says standard mail will be delivered every second day to households in urban areas, starting from July 1 in larger towns and cities, and rolling out to smaller centres over two years. Taranaki towns, including Stratford, Inglewood, Eltham, Manaia and Okato, are in the first group of smaller centres to experience the changes.
The changes will see an estimated 400 posties lose their jobs, with about 300 to be lost on July 1. These job losses will make up part of the 1500 to 2000 job losses across the business announced in 2013.
Despite the changes, NZ Post is confident they will continue to meet delivery targets. "Customers will see very little, if any, difference in the services they receive from NZ Post," says Ashley.
"Our target of 95 percent of standard mail delivered within three working days remains. Six-day-a-week deliveries will continue for priority mail and courier parcels, so people should still check for mail every day." Rural deliveries remain largely unchanged.
New Plymouth residents will also see some new delivery vehicles over the next few months as extensive trials take place. "We have already tested these vehicles in parts of Wellington and Auckland , but we want to see how they go over a larger area. We've chosen New Plymouth because it has a wide range of customers and a varied terrain."
Two types of vehicle - a four-wheeled Paxster and a three-wheeled Kyburz - can be driven on both the road and the footpath, "and can carry more parcels than a postie on a bike or on foot".