The Waikato Coastcare planting season is now six weeks behind due to Covid-19 delays. Nearly 70,000 plants need to get into dunes before Labour Weekend, a job that usually takes volunteers up to 1,500 hours to complete. The Coastcare programme is in partnership with the local community, iwi, district councils, the Department of Conservation and […]

Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has announced that Auckland will remain in Alert Level 3 while the rest of New Zealand will remain in Alert Level 2 until 11:59 on 26th August. Ardern said this is part of the government’s Covid-19 resurgence plan and asks Auckland to “band together” to stamp out this second wave of […]

Plans for a Hamilton – Auckland commuter train are well underway with testing of tracks beginning in August. Once the trials are complete, 150 passengers will be able between Hamilton, Huntly and Auckland with the first departure scheduled on November 2. Waikato Regional Councillor and Chair of the Rail Governance Committee Hugh Vercoe, said the […]

Tokoroa’s unused airfield has quickly become one of the most popular model aircraft flying locations. Situated off Moffat Road, the airfield features a 120m by 60m grass runway and a 850m by 18m sealed landing strip. While aircraft up to 5700kgs are permitted to use the runway, model flyers are increasingly gathering at the airfield […]

Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, held a press conference at 9:20 pm on August 11 with Director General of Health, Dr. Ashley Bloomfield. Ardern revealed New Zealand had four new confirmed cases of Covid-19 from an unknown origin. The new cases of community transmission come from the same family in South Auckland with no links to […]

The government has announced a $2 million injection into redeveloping the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House as part of its Covid-19 response and recovery fund. A welcome surprise to locals, the funding will allow Kiwi House to build a large visitor and conservation centre and a large nocturnal house experience. Kiwi House manager, Jo Russell, said the […]

As the Government’s Covid-19 wage subsidy comes to an end this month, regional New Zealand is looking to combat a spike in youth unemployment. The Government is investing $11.5 million into rural New Zealand with the aim to to connect young people with jobs. The Mayoral Taskforce for Jobs and the Ministry of Social Development […]

OceanaGold is proposing a mine expansion in small mining town, Waihi. However, not all Waihi residents are in favour of the expansion. Local, Reg Turner, is against the proposal for a number of reasons. “I know underneath the pit is real hard rock, so there’s going to be heavy ground shaking going on,” he says. […]

Small New Zealand towns are welcoming new businesses seeking cheaper rent, more space and the support of a local community. As ‘working from home’ evolves into a normal part of business operations, people are now looking to shift out of the main cities, in search of better work-life balance and lower costs. Shared office spaces […]

A million dollar project to connect Paeroa to the popular Hauraki Rail Trail is now in its first stages, after receiving $730,000 in Provincial Growth Funding. The Paeroa Historical Maritime Park’s development will include a community jetty, floating wharf and a new riverboat to ferry people and their bikes between the museum and the centre […]