Waikato has secured more than $5 million in taxpayer funding to fast-track a suite of freshwater restoration projects. The projects will be managed by the Waikato Regional Council. Of the funding package, $2.825m will be used to create a green corridor along the lower Piako River, from the Kopuatai wetland to the Hauraki Gulf; $1.74m […]

From this week, Waipā residents are paying half the previous fare to catch a bus from Cambridge, Te Awamutu or Ōhaupō to Hamilton as a new bus ticketing system is introduced. On Monday, Waikato Regional Council launched the new Bee Card system to replace the BUSIT card. While it is rolled out over the next six […]

Waikato District Council this week adopted its 2020/21 Annual Plan with a slightly reduced rates increase when compared to what was originally proposed in the council’s 2018-28 Long Term Plan. The Annual Plan also spread a proposed rent increase for tenants living in the council’s pensioner houses over two years instead of one, and introduced […]

Five years after it was abolished, Hauraki District Council has voted to reintroduce a policy that sees developers pay money to fund growth-related infrastructure. Councillors on Wednesday adopted a development contribution policy, following five years of a “significant” increase in population. With a policy in place, people applying for consents or connections for development – […]

Rain clouds have been few and far between this year, but a small silver lining is on the way for drought-stricken Thames Valley farmers. Hauraki District Mayor Toby Adams says the council is now accepting applications to a $250,000 Mayoral Drought Relief Fund provided by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) for partial reimbursement of […]

Hauraki District Council is floating the idea of relocating the 50-year-old world famous in New Zealand L&P bottle. The town’s giant bottle has been such a selfie-magnet that its current location on the eastern outskirts of Paeroa is not maximising its potential to lure dollars out of visitors, some say. Hauraki mayor Toby Adams says […]

After years of driving past the Paeroa Historical Maritime Park on his way to Auckland and wanting to stop, Deputy PM Winston Peters finally paid the place a visit this week. As well as a tour of the park, he received a progress update on a $1.1 million development aimed at boosting tourism in the […]

New Zealand and Australian stock markets could be in for more volatility as concerns rise about another Covid-19 outbreak in China. According to AAP, Beijing has locked down 11 residential communities near a wholesale food market after 45 workers tested positive to COVID-19. The market will also have an eye on Wall St, where US […]

A Chinese New Zealander says she’s struggling to reopen her Auckland business because her mother has been stranded in Fiji for almost three months. Ms Liu in Fiji. She says stranded parents have become restless. Ms Liu in Fiji. Li Yuning’s mother flew to Fiji to renew her New Zealand visa on 19 March, just […]

Taupō Airport Authority is reminding the community that the Taupō Airport remains fully operational for essential services at Alert Level 4. Taupō Airport Authority General Manager Rhys Frearson said the airport continues to provide an important link with the rest of New Zealand. “Whilst we may not be facilitating our normal scheduled flights for passengers, […]