The Wairarapa Times-Age is about to enter a new era by printing off-site from December. The ageing Harris Press, which has printed the newspaper and several commercial publications over the past 30 years, is being decommissioned and the Times-Age will be printed in Wanganui from early December.
The press shutdown will affect about 30 printing and publishing staff, the majority of whom are part-time workers.
Times-Age general manager Russell Broughton said the company is hoping to keep redundancies to a minimum by offering alternative jobs within the Times-Age or at other sites operated by the Times-Age’s parent company, APN NZ Ltd.
"Ultimately, though, there will be some redundancies, and where that occurs we will be offering every assistance to help people gain other employment," he said.
Mr Broughton said the Times-Age press is unable to offer the versatility and colour capabilities needed to satisfy the demands of commercial clients and the increasing requirements of advertisers seeking more colour in their local newspaper.
He said it will be sad to see the press go, but the move is in line with newspaper practice throughout New Zealand and around the world.
"Newspaper companies face huge capital outlays on presses and the practice has been to utilise their best presses to the best effect. That means, in many cases, printing more than one paper on each site."
He said this is evident throughout New Zealand in cases such as the Whangarei Northern Advocate being printed on the New Zealand Herald press at Ellerslie, the Rotorua Daily Post and the Bay of Plenty Times being printed at an off-site press in Tauranga, Levin’s daily paper being printed in Wanganui and Palmerston North’s Manawatu Standard being printed in Petone.
The press closure will not impact on staff numbers outside the printing and publishing areas.
All other functions, including newsgathering and production, pre-press operations, administration and deliveries, will remain intact.
