New Name for Auckland’s Newest Mail Centre
Auckland’s newest mail centre has a new name. The Auckland Mail Centre – Te Riu o Tamaki Makau Rau will become the
official name of the mail centre, which will process all of greater Auckland’s mail.
Situated at Highbrook Business Park in East Tamaki, the Auckland Mail Centre – Te Riu o Tamaki Makau Rau will process on
average around 1.4 to 1.7 million of items of mail each day from Pokeno in the South to Cape Reinga in the north once
fully operational.
That will increase to around 1.8 to 1.9 million, and sometimes up to 2.1 million items of mail a day around the
Christmas period.
Designed by architects Warren and Mahoney, who based their design on sustainable principles, the Auckland Mail Centre –
Te Riu o Tamaki Makau Rau, recycles water and waste water recycling, has indigenous planting, permeable paving, solar
heating, low energy lighting and electrical equipment.
The centre is the largest of its kind in New Zealand, spanning two football fields and housing eight new
state-of-the-art mail processing machines.
Mail centre leader, Jo Ann Day-Townsend says employees are very excited about moving into the new centre.
“Some people moved here from sites in Auckland in October and the rest will shift here early in the New Year. We will
have around 700 people working at the Auckland Mail Centre – Te Riu o Tamaki Makau Rau, which will make us one of the
largest employers in the region.”
The new name is a result of a staff challenge and external consultation, says Mrs Day-Townsend.
“We are very pleased that employees developed this name. It acknowledges the mana whenua and our bicultural workforce.
Te Riu o Tamaki Makau Rau literally translates to ‘the heart beat that blends Tamaki and its hundred lovers’ which
embraces wider networks of people and cultures and reflects the current and future growth within the region. So the
symbolic meaning is the heart/spirit of Auckland.”
Mrs Day-Townsend says the Centre is currently processing around 40 per cent of Greater Auckland’s mail but that will
increase to 100 per cent early next year.
The Auckland Mail Centre – Te Riu o Tamaki Makau Rau will have an official opening ceremony in the middle of next year.
ENDS