Taupō District Council has decided to halt a number of key projects programmed for this financial year as it moves to reduce the effect of COVID-19 on its hard-hit community. The no-go projects are the Kiddle Drive-Arrowsmith Avenue roundabout, investigation work into the northern access to the Taupō Town Centre, sealing of the former RSA […]

The final stage of a major upgrade to Mangakino’s sewer network will get underway this month. In 2018, 6.8km of the network was upgraded. Now, a further 6.0km of sewer line will be relined over the next six months. Head of operations Kevin Strongman said once complete, the entire Mangakino sewer network of over 18km […]

The Taupō council yesterday voted to make the district “smoke and vape free”, which will include “smoke free” signage and education and awareness campaigns. The council stoped short of making the plan a bi-law meaning there will be no repercussions for thoes who flaunt the law, however coucnil representatives are confident that through good signage […]

New Zealand wines are outselling those of Australia in the United States. Wine exports to the USA surpassed over 1 billion dollars. For an industry expected to pass two billion dollars in exports by 2025, this milestone comes as welcome news to wine producers Australia is still more successful in Asia.

New Zealand’s Government has raised its coronavirus travel alert level to include all of China, telling Kiwis to ‘avoid any non-essential travel to the country.’ The move is a significant increase from warnings made by the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which confined the highest level of warnings to just the Hubei Province […]

About 33,000 new homes were consented with Auckland leading the way, followed closely behind by Wellington, Stats NZ said in a release. One third of all residential consents have been for apartments, town houses, flats and units – signalling a change in culture as kiwis move away from traditional houses with gardens to more urban […]

Each day, a growing number of people are launching inflatable rings and boats, kayaks and rafts to glide down the Waikato River. They launch either at the lagoon below the Control Gate Bridge or at Cherry Island, and get out at the hot pools at the Ōtumuheke Stream or at Hipapatua Reid’s Farm. From the […]

Panicked Waihī Beach residents evacuated on Sunday night, believing there was a tsunami warning, after a wave of sirens sounded across the Bay of Plenty. Civil Defence and Waikato police later confirmed there was no tsunami warning for the area and said the sirens were a false alarm. Civil Defence later sent a text out […]

A new study has found that people who cycle to work could have a lower risk of dying early. Lead researcher Dr Caroline Shaw from the University of Otago, Wellington, says people who cycled to work had a 13 per cent reduction in mortality during the study, likely as a result of the health benefits […]