29 May 2006

New nationwide postcode system to be announced this week

Journalists are invited to attend a briefing this Wednesday 31 May to hear about the comprehensive new postcode system to be introduced around the country in June – and how it’ll affect the average New Zealander.

Some 1.8 million mailers are to be sent to every household, rural address and New Zealand Post PO Box from Thursday 1 June as New Zealand Post publicly launches its new four-digit postcode system.

Peter Fenton, the Chief Executive of the company’s Postal Services Group, will explain:
• Why the new system will help the company deliver mail accurately and on time and why it is a key component of a programme to upgrade mail processing.
• How the new system has been designed to help reduce instances of misdirected mail caused by incorrect addressing or duplicate or similar street names (for example there are about 18 ‘Beach Roads’ in the Auckland area alone).
• Why the new system is necessary to cope with New Zealand’s growth – including the development of new suburbs and the increase in apartment and rural ‘lifestyle’ living.

There’ll also be a chance to see a new state-of-the-art mail processing machine in action. It is the first of six to be installed at Mail Centres around the country in conjunction with the new postcode system.

Ends