"It was not unexpected news.
"Contractors have generally been accepting of the change and the reasons for it.
"We will be working through the detail and implementation of the change with our contractors," Mr Kane said.
However, Allied Press, owner of the Otago Daily Times and a stable of community newspapers, is determined to maintain the current deliveries of its papers throughout the affected areas. Allied Press director and business manager Nick Smith said yesterday New Zealand Post was suggesting a 338 per cent price increase to deliver Saturday papers and an 86 per cent increase for Monday to Friday papers.
"It's not fair and reasonable," Mr Smith said.
He said Allied Press was looking at an alternative to ensure rural readers were not disadvantaged.
In urban areas, including most of Dunedin, the post has been cut this year to three days a week.
Most rural areas kept six days a week in the mail shake-up but a change to its agreement with the Government meant the state-owned enterprise is entitled to reduce to five days a week in rural areas. In some areas, New Zealand Post had always provided a five-day service only because of isolation factors.
After November, more than 80 per cent of rural "customers" in New Zealand remained on six-day delivery, the company said.
"Changes to the deed [of understanding] give us the flexibility to go to five day a week delivery, but by working hard to bring a wider mix of products into the network, including newspapers, we've been able to maintain a six day a week service to the vast majority of rural customers for now," Mr Kane said in a statement.
The state-owned enterprise has been trying to negotiate commercial contracts with newspaper companies. Rural contractors carry newspapers as well as mail, but traditionally their newspaper business is managed separately in a contract with the newspapers.
Middlemarch rural delivery contractor Lorna Williams said she was disappointed with New Zealand Post.
"They're not living up to the service that they say they are.
"Courier Post is supposed to be door-to-door and we're going to have Courier Post arrive in Middlemarch maybe on a Saturday morning."
Mrs Williams said she sometimes carried prescription drugs as well as mail and newspapers.
Dunedin city councillor Kate Wilson, of Middlemarch, who is on a rural delivery route, said she was concerned about the loss of service.
She worried it could be the start of a further slip in the rural delivery service, to even fewer days, and said she would work on ensuring the service was not further eroded.
"It makes us nervous."
Mrs Wilson said she was alerted to the change on Thursday night, and believed New Zealand Post should have consulted on the change.
Rural contractors went the extra mile, including checking on people if their mail-box had not been cleared, Mrs Wilson said.
"Especially when there's a lot of single farmers who may not be seen in weeks and weeks [and are] not expected until the rugby practice, or the pub, or whatever."
Mr Kane said the company would inform affected rural people so they could take it into account when making arrangements.
