NZ Post will no longer be delivering to rural addresses on Saturdays.
From June 29, there will no longer be newspaper and parcel deliveries to rural addresses on Saturdays in the majority of rural New Zealand, with the exception of 17 rural delivery runs that will be phased out by June 2025.
There will be no changes to rural mail delivery, as NZ Post does not deliver mail on Saturdays to any address.
Allied Press chief executive Grant McKenzie said it was very disappointing for rural and regional New Zealand that New Zealand Post was "deserting the regions".
Allied Press, which publishes the Otago Daily Times, had contracts directly with rural delivery drivers and it would be working with them to find solutions for subscribers — "but it will have an impact", Mr McKenzie said.
NZ Post chief operating officer Brendon Main said Saturday services to rural areas were not commercially viable.
"We deliver very low volumes of items on these days, and it costs us more to deliver on Saturdays than we earn from the products we deliver."
Mr Main said affected rural customers could expect to receive a written notification about the change from NZ Post.
This would also affect rural customers who were PO Box holders and received deliveries through the NZ Post Box Lobby service on Saturdays.
— RNZ/Additional reporting Sally Rae
