Following the public meetings I convened last Monday regarding the closure of normal bill payment services at the Hokowhitu and Riverdale community Post Shops, I was able to gain an appreciation of the deep concern within the community for not only the axing of these services, but how this process has been conducted by New Zealand Post.

An across the board lack of consultation or notification of the community by New Zealand Post is of great worry for me and these communities, as any consultation would have immediately shown overwhelming support for the retention of these services.

This concern does not only stem from the community however, but also from the franchisees for these stores themselves, who do not see why the services cannot be retained, as they have been operating very successfully so far. However so far to support their position NZ Post has still not provided the cold hard data as to why these services should be canned within these communities.

Both communities also discussed the impact the closure of these services may have on the economic and community health of these villages, with some respondents expressing a fear of individuals and families taking their other business away from these areas, affecting other small businesses. Furthermore, a sense of community has been taken away with the closure of these services, as these stores often brought people together and encouraged a sense of community sometimes hard to find today.

Additionally, the effect of this closure on the elderly was another especially concerning impact raised in discussion, with many elderly within this community unable to afford or complete substantially longer journeys to other areas of Palmerston North to conduct the business they regularly complete at these community post shops.

However, this issue may ultimately be an unfortunate yet inevitable result of the shift in focus dictated of State Owned Enterprises by the National Government, with an emphasis placed on financial performance and returns over public service and care. The axing of the services at the Hokowhitu and Riverdale community post shops may be just another loss for the community in a developing string of public services being cut to satisfy the bean-counting of the National Government. If these continue, we run the risk of not only losing services essential for some individuals, but also losing our sense of community.