The developer behind the Longview subdivision in Lake Hāwea says he is as frustrated as the residents over the lack of NZ Post delivery services. 

Longview residents cannot receive deliveries from NZ Post as it considers the subdivision ‘rural’ and therefore will not deliver to individual mailboxes.

Residents have taken to social media to express their frustration and confusion over the absence of NZ Post services. 

Longview developer Lane Hocking said he has been trying to convince NZ Post to approve mailbox delivery for homes in the subdivision since the first residents moved in a year ago.

He told the Wānaka App he has met with NZ Post on site, spoken with their lawyer and had extensive back and forth with staff (the latest exchange in February) all in an attempt to convince them to approve letterbox delivery at Longview.

"When we developed The Heights subdivision in 2019 we were in the same situation,” he said. “After a long series of calls and emails they agreed to deliver mail to individual homes."

"While we're still working with NZ Post directly we have made it clear we'll go to the Ombudsman on behalf of the Longview residents."

NZ Post’s offer to deliver to centralised clusters of mailboxes at Longview wasn’t good enough, he said.

"Residents would like to get mail to their door rather than having to walk to centralised clusters,” he said. “We agree that's a reasonable expectation…”

Longview is within Hāwea’s Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) and it will eventually feature 5,000 houses. It’s also a stone’s throw from other subdivisions with individual mailboxes including Sentinel Park and Timsfield.

Despite this, because it’s a new subdivision “on NZ Post's rural delivery route”, delivering to individual properties is not an option, NZ Post told the Wānaka App.

It would also be “commercially irresponsible”, they said.

“Having to pass each delivery point on a set number of days a week whether or not there is mail to deliver is a fixed cost,” they said. 

“In a declining market such as mail it would be commercially irresponsible to increase our fixed costs whereas doing so would not be commercially sustainable.”

Lane said NZ Post designating the area as rural in their system was “certainly convenient for them”.

He said he was currently waiting to hear back from NZ Post’s lawyer since their most recent exchange.

“Who knows what the silence means but we live in hope that they'll do the right thing." 

PHOTO: Wānaka App