Earlier this week, while collecting mail from my PO Box at the Sockburn Post Shop, I noticed a sign announcing that staffed NZ Post services at the site would end on 10 November. PO Box services will remain available, but customers needing counter services will instead be directed to the new NZ Post Hub at 220 Moorhouse Avenue.

We call on NZ Post to reverse the planned withdrawal of staffed counter services and retain an accessible NZ Post counter serving western Christchurch.

This is bigger than the loss of one neighbourhood counter. Residents and businesses across western Christchurch use the Sockburn site. Removing its staffed services would leave a large part of the city without convenient access to face-to-face postal assistance.

NZ Post owns the existing Sockburn site, and customers will continue visiting it to access their PO Boxes. We ask NZ Post to retain staffed counter services alongside the continuing PO Box facilities and develop the property as a hub for western and southwestern Christchurch.

The Sockburn site also benefits from established public-transport connections. Nearby bus routes connect the area with Hornby, Rolleston, Wigram, Halswell, Hei Hei, Riccarton, Avonhead and other western communities. This makes Sockburn a practical location for people travelling from across the west and southwest.

These bus connections are especially important for people who cannot drive. Travelling to Moorhouse Avenue could require a longer journey, additional transfers or more walking. Retaining the Sockburn counter would preserve access at a location already connected to several parts of the city by public transport.

Western Christchurch is home to older residents who rely on accessible, face-to-face services. Travelling to Moorhouse Avenue may be difficult, time-consuming or costly for people with limited mobility, those who do not drive and those who depend on public transport.

Communities in the southwest, particularly Halswell, are also continuing to grow. More homes, families and businesses will increase demand for convenient parcel, postal and returns services. Removing local counter capacity now does not account for the area’s future needs.

The Sockburn counter serves residents and businesses throughout Sockburn and the surrounding suburbs. People rely on it to send and collect parcels, purchase postage, make returns and receive assistance from experienced staff. For local businesses, losing the counter could mean additional travel, expense and disruption.

A service may appear close enough when measured on a map, but distance is not the same as accessibility. Traffic, public-transport connections, transfers, mobility needs and total journey time must all be considered.

A 2020 study from the University of Canterbury’s GeoHealth Laboratory described Christchurch as a multi-centred city. It found that access to community facilities depends on travel time, distance and how people travel. The researchers also cautioned that walking estimates based on healthy adults may not represent older or vulnerable people. They identified public transport as an important part of a fuller accessibility assessment.

Although the study did not examine postal services, it offers an important planning principle for this decision: access should be assessed using real journeys and the needs of different residents, not distance on a map alone.

We understand that the way people use postal services is changing and that NZ Post must operate sustainably. However, centralising staffed services at Moorhouse Avenue is not an equally accessible solution for everyone.

Because NZ Post owns the Sockburn property and will continue providing PO Box services there, the community deserves a clear explanation of why staffed counter services cannot also continue from the site.

We ask NZ Post to:

Reverse the decision to withdraw staffed counter services from the Sockburn site.
Retain an accessible counter alongside the continuing PO Box facilities.
Develop the NZ Post-owned Sockburn property as a postal hub for western and southwestern Christchurch.
Assess the decision against customer demand, population growth, local business needs, public-transport connections, realistic journey times and the needs of older and mobility-limited residents.
Publish the local evidence behind the proposed withdrawal and consult affected residents, community organisations and businesses before counter services end.
This petition is not opposed to modernisation. It asks NZ Post to plan for Christchurch’s future in a fair, practical and accessible way. It also asks NZ Post to make better use of a property that it owns and that customers will continue visiting.

Western Christchurch is growing, not disappearing. Its staffed postal services should reflect the needs of the community now and in the future.

Please sign this petition and ask NZ Post to retain staffed counter services at Sockburn.

Supporting research: Pathways to urban health and well-being: measuring and modelling of community services in a medium-size city, University of Canterbury GeoHealth Laboratory, 2020.