Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Local Democracy Reporting
Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.
Local Democracy Reporting - Latest News [Page 170]
Northland Councils Should Support Kaipara’s Fight Against Auckland’s Dome Valley Landfill
Monday, 8 June 2020, 11:24 am | Susan Botting - Local Democracy Reporter
Northland local authorities should be working together to stop the multi-million dollar Dome Valley mega landfill, an opponent of the dump says. Michelle Carmichael, Fight the Tip, Save the Dome leader, said the proposed facility on more than 1000 ... More >>
Calls For Freedom Camp Site Closure After Tourists Intrude Residents’ Privacy
Monday, 8 June 2020, 11:15 am | Chloe Ranford - Local Democracy Reporter
Freedom campers have left residents in a Marlborough Sounds bay feeling "vulnerable" after years of defecating in their gardens, pinching their water and internet, and demanding to shower. Double Bay residents are calling for the Marlborough District ... More >>
‘It’s No Picnic In Picnic Bay’: Rural Resident Fights For Better Broadband Connectivity
Monday, 8 June 2020, 11:13 am | Chloe Ranford - Local Democracy Reporter
Internet access is "no picnic in Picnic Bay", in the Marlborough Sounds, with resident Chris Womersley using a lunchbox and water bottle to tap into a broadband tower after his dial-up was binned. Forty-five kilometres away, in Tuamarina, slow ... More >>
New $1.8 Million Wharf For Remote Pouto As Kaipara Harbour Wharves Project Takes Shape
Friday, 5 June 2020, 4:50 pm | Susan Botting - Local Democracy Reporter
A new $1.8 million wharf is to be built at remote Pouto as part of the Kaipara Harbour Wharves project. It will be the only new wharf in the unique $4.95 million Provincial Growth Fund-funded project. The wharf will be one of four initial developments in ... More >>
Coast Councils To Seek Govt Funding For SNA Work
Friday, 5 June 2020, 4:44 pm | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
The council team working on a combined district plan for the West Coast will ask the Government for funding to research significant natural areas (SNAs). The Te Tai Poutini One Plan Committee of council and iwi leaders is meeting regularly to thrash ... More >>
Council Aims To ‘buy Local’
Friday, 5 June 2020, 4:41 pm | Aaron van Delden - Local Democracy Reporter
Supporting the local economy is meant to be a key consideration for Gisborne District Council when it makes purchases. The council’s procurement policy in the past gave preference to local suppliers and businesses, as long as their prices were within ... More >>
Objections Mount To Chlorination Of Reefton Water
Thursday, 4 June 2020, 11:13 am | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
Reefton people have come out strongly against proposals to chlorinate the town water supply. The Inangahua Community Board meeting last night heard that nearly a third of the submissions on the Buller District Council annual plan this year had come ... More >>
Woodlands Retirees: “We Will Be Forced From Our Homes”
Thursday, 4 June 2020, 11:07 am | Charlotte Jones - Local Democracy Reporter
Woodlands residents fear proposed council rate rises of between 8 to 13 percent may force them from their homes. Elderly people in the area say money is already tight on the pension and a rate rise would see them reach breaking point. “Surely ... More >>
Funding Cut For Kaikoura Council’s Survival Project
Wednesday, 27 May 2020, 12:38 pm | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
The government has turned off the funding tap for Kaikoura District Council's financial sustainability project. The council's bid for more than $7 million in the latest Budget round has been declined, it has confirmed. And it has been told there would ... More >>
Nature Tourism Will Be Back – Conservation Board Advisor
Tuesday, 26 May 2020, 10:57 am | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
Tourism on the West Coast has suffered a savage blow from Covid-19 -- but it will come back, according to veteran conservationist, Gerry McSweeney. The former Forest and Bird director and his wife Ann Saunders were two of the first promoters of nature ... More >>
Major Auckland Projects Face Budget Constraints Due To Covid-19
Tuesday, 26 May 2020, 10:51 am | Steve Forbes - Local Democracy Reporter
Auckland Council development agency Panuku is reviewing a number of major projects due to a projected half-billion revenue loss because of coronavirus. But the council-controlled organisation (CCO) will not say which projects might be affected. Panuku currently ... More >>
Hospital Filling Back Up At Alert Level 2
Tuesday, 26 May 2020, 10:47 am | Aaron van Delden - Local Democracy Reporter
Gisborne Hospital is chugging back to life under Alert Level 2. “All departments are back on deck and scheduling surgery, consultations and treatment,” Hauora Tairawhiti district health board chief executive Jim Green said. The Herald reported last week ... More >>
Unpaid Rates Doubles On West Coast
Thursday, 21 May 2020, 11:01 am | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
The amount owed to the West Coast Regional Council in overdue rates has almost doubled, compared to a year ago. Corporate services manager Robert Mallinson said unpaid rates amounted to $1,041,755 as of May 6, an increase of $494,000 on May 2019. The council ... More >>
Rates Rise To Hit Orchardists Hardest
Thursday, 21 May 2020, 11:00 am | Charlotte Jones - Local Democracy Reporter
Owners of high value kiwifruit orchards will be the biggest rates losers in the coming year, forking out an extra $10,000. While the average annual rate rise in the Opotiki district is forecast to be 4.25 percent – down from the 5.06 percent ... More >>
Opotiki Owes $3.5 Million In Unpaid Rates
Thursday, 21 May 2020, 10:59 am | Charlotte Jones - Local Democracy Reporter
RATE DEBT: Opotiki mayor Lyn Riesterer said those who can but don't pay their rates "annoy the hell" out of those who do. CHARLOTTEJONES/LDR Opotiki ratepayers owe $3.5 million in unpaid rates, with some who can pay simply refusing to do so. ... More >>
Hokitika township needs to retreat from sea, councillor warns
Tuesday, 19 May 2020, 12:02 pm | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
Hokitika township must start planning to move back from the coast, West Coast councillor Stuart Challenger says. More >>
Home Purchases To Make Way For Auckland’s $1.3bn Mill Rd Project To Be Negotiated Soon
Wednesday, 13 May 2020, 11:09 am | Steve Forbes - Local Democracy Reporter
The Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) is remaining tight-lipped on how much it plans to spend on a series of property purchases as part of Auckland’s $1.35 billion Mill Rd project. When the Government rolled out its new $12 billion infrastructure ... More >>
Climate Change ‘a Rort’ – West Coast Regional Council Chair
Wednesday, 13 May 2020, 11:04 am | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
Climate change caused by human activity, sea-level rise and the need to prepare for it — it is all a load of hogwash, according to the chairman of the West Coast Regional Council. Allan Birchfield, who is known for his forthright views on the ... More >>
Coronavirus: Rotorua Rates Freeze On The Table
Wednesday, 13 May 2020, 10:52 am | Felix Desmarais - Local Democracy Reporter
1. Rotorua Lakes Council building. (File) Photo / Andrew Warner / Rotorua Daily Post [via LDR: single use only] A rates freeze will be considered by Rotorua Lakes Council as part of its “focus on continuing to cushion the impact of Covid-19”. ... More >>
Big Day For West Coast As New Hospital Blessed
Tuesday, 12 May 2020, 10:45 am | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
Today is a big day for the West Coast DHB, with the start of the transition process from the old Grey Base hospital to the gleaming new Te Nikau building next door. Board chairman Rick Barker told members on Friday that Fletchers started not long ... More >>
