NZ Post has delivered the latest blow to rural communities, but Ashburton’s mayor doesn’t believe it will have a major impact.

Deliveries to rural addresses will end on Saturdays as NZ Post chief operating officer Brendon Main said the service was not commercially viable.

From June 29, there will no longer be newspaper and parcel deliveries to rural addresses on Saturdays across most of rural New Zealand, apart from 17 rural delivery runs that will be phased out by June 2025.

Rangitata MP James Meager respected the right for NZ Post to make its operational decisions independently, but was disappointed by the decision.

“I am concerned about what this means for the future of services in our rural communities. 

“Rural New Zealand already faces the disadvantage of long distances and low populations, and to have further services removed from the regions will only exacerbate these differences."

He has written to NZ Post asking what options are being offered to rural Cantabrians, and what other options are being explored “to ensure we aren’t further penalised compared to those living in big cities”.

Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown said the change won’t have as big of an impact as it would have 10 years ago.

“We don’t use the post like we used to,” Brown said.

“I get the paper delivered on a Saturday, which would be an inconvenience, but you can get them online now so there are alternatives.

“We don’t get much mail anymore, a lot of things come by email so I think we are moving on and technology is taking over.”

Mid Canterbury has an ageing rural population but technology has come a long way to address the previous poor connectivity issues in remote rural areas, Brown said.

He said he felt for the contractors affected by the change, and newspaper businesses will need to adapt.

“It might impact subscriptions in another blow to the newspaper industry.”

The Ashburton Guardian has delivered a Saturday paper for over 140 years and co-owner Daryl Holden said the New Zealand Post decision presents another challenge to many newspapers up and down the country.

“Fortunately, the Ashburton Guardian is better set up than many newspapers because we provide a full online version of all of our editions,’’ he said.

“That includes our Saturday edition, which means in today’s hyper-connected world you will still be able to instantly access your favoured weekend read online.’’

Holden said the Weekend Guardian newspaper would still be able to be purchased at the usual retail outlets across the Ashburton District on a Saturday, plus it would continue to be delivered to rural subscribers to arrive on Monday.

Holden said rural Ashburton Guardian subscribers would also be contacted directly by his team.

“We’re as sorry and as frustrated as all our loyal customers will be in this disappointing New Zealand Post decision.’’

By Jonathan Leask