“From the grassroots organisations through to governance at district council level.”
Hynes said the district would be lost without that community link.
Tararua District Mayor Tracey Collis said the announcement was a “massive shock” to the community.
“[It] left us thinking of the many reasons why the paper is so valuable to us.
“It has such a long history and is the only newspaper to reach every corner of the Tararua district.”
Collis said the community had benefitted from the paper’s hard-working and committed staff over many years.
“Whilst the media industry is facing challenging times our local teams have always been able to pull through because the paper enjoys such a high readership.
“Mayors across impacted regions are considering what can be done along with other members of the community to save our local news.”
MP Kieran McAnulty said he was gutted to learn of the proposal to close the Bush Telegraph and CHB Mail.
“These two publications are a valued part of the Tararua district and Central Hawke’s Bay communities.
“There are so many great things happening locally and we rely on these papers to highlight this.”
He hoped the publications would be able to be kept going.
“In the meantime, I’m sure all our thoughts are with the staff that are affected as this will no doubt be a big blow. They are a part of our community and have served us incredibly well over many years.”
Shires owner and Dannevirke community leader Suresh Patel said he was “totally devastated” when he heard the proposal, saying it was a “real kick in the groin” that the rural community did not need.
“I’m shattered for the staff of the Bush Telegraph, some of whom have been in sales and advertising for 40-plus years and have become close and personal friends.”
Patel said his biggest concern was for the elderly who relied on the paper because it was a “fantastic tool” for them to engage and connect with what was happening in and around the region.
“There are so many ... interesting talking points in each edition [that] regrettably could be lost amongst this particular generation.”
He said the paper had much local content, from schools to sporting groups, and a wide variety of clubs and organisations that had the opportunity to showcase and promote their code along with the Tararua District Council and local government information, plus community news and achievements that normally would be celebrated and could be overlooked.
Shires Fruit and Vegetable Market was heavily reliant on advertising weekly specials and, more importantly, seasonal fresh fruit and veges.
“We had customers commenting they would look forward to reading the paper to see what our specials were and travelled from various distances and towns to purchase these goods.”
Patel said Shires had been advertising in the paper for as long as he could remember and it was “incredibly difficult” to comprehend the possible closure of such an important regional news platform.
“My only consolation is that we’ve kept some interesting and important news articles over many years that were written by some incredibly talented and dedicated local news reporters.
“Fortunately, we can treasure these and reflect on these memories in years to come.”
A decision on the proposal is set to be made on December 5.
Submissions from the community will be accepted until 10am on Wednesday at communities.proposal@nzme.co.nz.
