The hard\u2011copy petition circulated in the Cherrywood community has gathered nearly 700 signatures.<\/p>\n
Bechan said that when he began negotiations to take over the business this year, he was initially told the NZ Post service would remain until September, but NZ Post later changed the closure date to April.<\/p>\n
He accepted ownership, knowing NZ Post would not continue, but he had since changed his mind and was fighting for NZ Post to reinstate its Cherrywood service.<\/p>\n
Bechan said it was not until he began operating the store that he realised how heavily the community relied on the service.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m fighting for this.”<\/p>\n
He said the closure left him feeling stuck, unable to provide services residents relied on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to help the people who are coming in, saying they need the services, and I can\u2019t provide it. I wasn\u2019t given the chance to provide it. Or try to attempt to.”<\/p>\n
Bechan said many residents did not realise the branch had closed until they walked in expecting to use it.<\/p>\n
Kameer Bechan said reinstating NZ Post would make a significant difference for the community. Photo \/ Kelly O’Hara<\/p>\n
He said the strongest reaction had come from elderly residents who relied on the branch for everyday services. <\/p>\n
Many used it not only for mail, but for paying bills, buying stamps and running errands. <\/p>\n
Cherrywood residents must now travel to \u014ct\u016bmoetai or Brookfield to access NZ Post services.<\/p>\n
Bechan said many elderly residents were frustrated at being pushed online, with some preferring in\u2011person payments.<\/p>\n
He said others did not want to rely on buses or travel further for services that used to be available locally.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t teach an old dog new tricks, so it\u2019s a bit sad that the understanding is they just got to do it. That\u2019s the new way.”<\/p>\n
Bechan said losing NZ Post reduced the turnover he was initially shown when he took over the business.<\/p>\n
But he said the push to reinstate services wasn\u2019t about money; it was about the impact on the community and the difference reinstating the service would make.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d take a minimum wage if NZ Post came back on a reduced capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m willing for this community to take the hit a little bit just to get the services back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people have signed a petition calling for NZ Post services to be reinstated. Photo \/ Kelly O’Hara<\/p>\n
NZ Post consumer general manager Sarah Sandoval said the organisation understood the changes were disappointing, but more than 560 stores were still operating across New Zealand. <\/p>\n
She said NZ Post services worked closely with the retail partner throughout the removal process. <\/p>\n
NZ Post acknowledged the original closure date that had been discussed, but Sandoval said the previous owner requested an earlier end due to the sale of the business.<\/p>\n
Customers in Tauranga could access services at Bureta Rd, Brookfield, 7th Ave and Devonport Rd.<\/p>\n
Sandoval said NZ Post had taken an evidence\u2011based approach to reshaping its network, looking at customer use, travel distances and local needs to ensure services remain sustainable.<\/p>\n
Petition organiser Joanne Lesley Brown said she was saddened by the closure, particularly for elderly and disabled residents who relied on the service.<\/p>\n
Brown, who would walk to the post shop for her errands, said losing it had made life harder and reduced her independence, as she now needed someone to drive her to Brookfield to post mail or pay bills.<\/p>\n
She said she loved living in Cherrywood and hoped the post office could be reinstated, so locals were not left \u201cstranded\u201d. <\/p>\n
Cherrywood resident Peter Neilson said the closure was disappointing because of the branch\u2019s convenient location.<\/p>\n
Neilson moved from Auckland after suffering a stroke and now lives with his daughter. <\/p>\n
He said easy parking made Cherrywood more accessible than other nearby options.<\/p>\n
He would like to see the service reinstated and said the large number of people who signed the petition showed strong community support for keeping it open.<\/p>\n
Vanessa De Klerk, who lives a five-minute walk from the Cherrywood post office, said the closure had significantly affected locals. <\/p>\n
She said she preferred to walk whenever possible, and even her daughter, in her 20s, used the post office regularly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think just keep it local, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell has asked NZ Post to reconsider the closure. Photo \/ Alex Cairns<\/p>\n
Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell said several Cherrywood and Matua residents had contacted him with concerns about the closure.<\/p>\n
He said the outlet was an important local service, particularly for the area\u2019s growing elderly population, which relied on face-to-face postal services.<\/p>\n
Uffindell said the strong support for the petition highlighted the community\u2019s opposition.<\/p>\n
He confirmed he had formally asked NZ Post to reconsider the closure.<\/p>\n
Zoe Blake is a multimedia journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The hard\u2011copy petition circulated in the Cherrywood community has gathered nearly 700 signatures. Bechan said that when he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[34295,138,226443,17163,18989,111,139,69,128,3117,133,8207],"class_list":["post-443421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-34295","tag-business","tag-cherrywood","tag-closure","tag-nearing","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-petition","tag-post","tag-signatures","tag-sparks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443421","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=443421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}