Effect on closing 'disastrous’

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 14

Effect on closing 'disastrous’

By

PAT TAYLOR

in Greymouth

The proposed closing of the Reefton Post Office will have a “disastrous effect on the morale of the town,” said the chairman of the Inangahua County Council, Mr Alf Cleaver, yesterday. The district manager of New Zealand Post, Mr John Christie, visited the post office on Tuesday to tell the five staff that the office would close from June. The Reefton manager, Mr George Murcott, said the staff had been offered redeployment, severance or early retirement. The post office also is an agency for Postßank and Telecom, as well as recording births, deaths

and marriages for the Justice Department. The member of Parliament for the West Coast, Mr Kerry Burke, was surprised and disappointed to learn of the closing. "I haven’t been told and that is not a good way for New Zealand Post to behave," he said. He would ask if the post office was profitable, although he was aware o' profitable post offices being closed. “It was a harsh way of letting the public know of the decision.” said Mr Burkee. “I can’t think of a big employer in the private sector who would not recognise a responsibility to the community and consult its elected leaders."