{"id":368471,"date":"2026-04-07T21:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T21:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/368471\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T21:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T21:41:10","slug":"nearly-900-people-sign-petition-to-save-nz-post-branch-in-suburban-hastings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/368471\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearly 900 people sign petition to save NZ Post branch in suburban Hastings"},"content":{"rendered":"

NZ Post general manager consumer Sarah Sandoval said it had yet to receive the petition. <\/p>\n

It had considered the feedback it had received, but Raureka did not meet its criteria to reverse the decision, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be working closely with the store owner on next steps, including ensuring the local community has plenty of information available about nearby locations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are difficult decisions, and we know in some cases the outcome will be disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Raureka petition<\/a>, initiated by residents of the neighbouring Masonic Village, has quickly gained supporters across the city.<\/p>\n

With about 60 customers a day at Raureka Pharmacy, staff member Kay Hape said the post centre was used by a wide range of people, including those from rural areas such as \u014ct\u0101ne.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people around here are just so passionate about keeping it because so many use it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easily accessible, there\u2019s parking, and it\u2019s central for a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said many customers had expressed concern about losing the service, even though the nearest branch at the CBD\u2019s Paper Plus store was less than 2km away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got people in the village that don\u2019t drive, and some of the locals that come in here to do parcels don\u2019t have cars, they\u2019re on bikes or walk in. So, it\u2019s a further distance for them to travel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Masonic Village resident Judy Taylor, who uses the postal service monthly, said rising fuel prices<\/a> added another layer of difficulty if the branch closes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, winter is coming up, which makes it harder.\u201d<\/p>\n

She signed the petition, hoping NZ Post would reconsider the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also feel sorry for the pharmacy because they probably have people coming in to post something, and they might look and end up buying something,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n

Hastings councillor Heather Te Au-Skipworth, who has been supporting the community through the petition process, said the situation was \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d for the elderly community living next door and the local business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you take one part of the business away, we could be looking at an eventual closing of a business, which is what we don\u2019t want. We can\u2019t afford for another business to close,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got elder care residents right next door, and with the fuel crisis and cost of living crisis, this is another layer of strain, especially for our community members that live locally, but also the rural users.\u201d<\/p>\n

Te Au-Skipworth said she would raise the issue with the council and advocate for the community.<\/p>\n

\"HastingsHastings councillor Heather Te Au-Skipworth is advocating for the community, highlighting potential business and community impacts. Photo \/ Rafaella Melo<\/p>\n

The Raureka NZ Post service has operated from the pharmacy for more than a decade.<\/p>\n

Pharmacy owner Andrew Spence said two of his pharmacies were affected by the planned closures, including Raureka and Onekawa.<\/p>\n

However, the impact would be most significant in Raureka.<\/p>\n

He said while the pharmacy closing was \u201cunlikely\u201d, the loss of the postal service could have wider implications.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a concern, and it was something we would need to evaluate going forward in the months ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PharmacyPharmacy owner Andrew Spence signs the petition as staff member Kay Hape assembles NZ Post parcels for customers. Photo \/ Rafaella Melo<\/p>\n

Spence said he had previously raised concerns with NZ Post, arguing the branch had become busier after nearby NZ Post closures.<\/p>\n

However, he felt this had not been fully considered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were clearly not looking at the month-by-month sales up to that point.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, they were looking at long-gone historical data, and I don\u2019t think they\u2019d taken into account the fact that with that closure, we were busier than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rafaella Melo has more than 10 years of experience as a journalist in Brazil. She has worn many hats, from radio and TV presenter and producer to magazine editor before joining the Hawke\u2019s Bay Today team as a multimedia journalist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NZ Post general manager consumer Sarah Sandoval said it had yet to receive the petition. It had considered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[118831,8794,5194,78,11692,111,43,139,69,384,128,3117,11590,7806,58933,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-368471","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-118831","9":"tag-branch","10":"tag-hastings","11":"tag-in","12":"tag-nearly","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-people","18":"tag-petition","19":"tag-post","20":"tag-save","21":"tag-sign","22":"tag-suburban","23":"tag-to"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}