More than one third of Waikato's post boxes no longer exist

Published on Stuff.co.nz and in the Waikato Times

More than one third of Waikato post boxes have been closed as letter writing in the region falls.

In the Waikato only 251 out of 400 post boxes remain, with 70 of them in Hamilton.

The demise of the post boxes comes as statistics from New Zealand Post reveal that letter volumes in the region have halved from 1.2 billion to 600 million per annum.

New Zealand Post business performance and optimisation specialist, Lisa McDonald, said they had been monitoring the use of post boxes since 2008 and had been removing those with low usage.

"When making a decision to remove we also take into account the proximity of nearby post boxes and post centres, and we are mindful of the needs of, for example, retirement villages."

She said although there were no immediate plans to remove any more post boxes, there was an ongoing nationwide review and as letter volumes declined the plans could change.

The decline in mail boxes had affected elderly letter writers who still used the snail mail system (used for avid letter writers).

Hilda Ross Retirement Village resident Ron Badman, 82, remembered when he tried to find his post box when he lived in Cambridge in 2013.

"There was a mailbox just at the end of our street that was very handy to pop the mail into, and I suddenly found one day there was no mailbox there.

"I went on the web then and found the boxes were being moved around and reduced in number, so I had to go hunting for the nearest box."

Badman said even though he was more technologically advanced than his peers, he still required the use of the postal service when contacting friends.

"When my wife died just under 2 years ago I had to get information out to a lot of people very quickly.

"The people I couldn't contact by phone, or who didn't have email, I had to write to. Then after my wife's funeral, there were quite a few things I had to put in the mail."

He posted thank you cards and for people who couldn't attend the funeral, he sent an order of service, a copy of the obituary and a poem his wife had written.

"I sent all those out by mail."

The Hilda Ross retirement resident said the village still offered a postal service.

"If I didn't live here, it would be a lot of tearing around in the car or on a scooter to find a box. I don't know where the nearest one is now. I know where the nearest post office is but it would be difficult and probably use up a bit of petrol in the process."

He estimates only five people in the Hilda Ross apartments have computers, with only two of them, including himself, using it regularly.

Judi Billcliff, a children's author and drama teacher started 'Snail Mail Day' last year on June 13 as a tribute to her mother who was an avid letter-writer.

The irony that the popularity grew due to the message being shared on Facebook wasn't lost on Billcliff who believed children should be encouraged to put pen to paper.

"These children growing up today are still going to have to put a CV together. There might be something they want to complain about. You need to be able to put words together in letter form.

"It's also about keeping the memories alive."

The decline in NZ Post services, she said, is everyone's fault - people have stopped sending letters.

"I think we have to take responsibility. We can jump up and down about mail deliveries being cut but if you want it to stay; you have to do something about it."

To learn more search for Snail Mail Day June 13th on Facebook