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Local Democracy Reporting
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Local Democracy Reporting - Latest News [Page 2]
Education And Housing Tipped As Areas For Council Input
Monday, 15 April 2024, 3:57 pm | David Hill - Local Democracy Reporter
Local governments can do more for their communities but only if the funding is made available - that's the message coming Local Government NZ. ‘‘Councils have relationships with communities, they can leverage those relationships," Local Government NZ president ... More >>
Masterton Council Forms Disability Advisory Group
Monday, 15 April 2024, 3:49 pm | Emily Ireland - Local Democracy Reporter
Masterton District Council has voted to establish a disability advisory group. The disability advisory group would provide support to the council in “addressing the challenges faced by people with disabilities”, a recent report to council said. ... More >>
‘We Just Need A Road’: Finding A Position On Broken Sounds Route
Monday, 15 April 2024, 3:45 pm | Maia Hart - Local Democracy Reporter
The Marlborough Sounds are waiting for a $230m repair job, with about $104m to be covered by Marlborough ratepayers. Who should pay for the repair of the long and winding road into the Sounds is dividing locals. More >>
Twenty Million Trees For New Zealand’s Biggest Harbour Restoration Project
Tuesday, 4 May 2021, 11:36 am | Susan Botting - Local Democracy Reporter
More than 20 million trees and other natives will be planted around New Zealand’s biggest harbour in the groundbreaking $200 million dollar Kaipara Moana Remediation project. Ruawai on the shores of Kaipara Harbour Alan Wilcox, a senior manager for ... More >>
How dirty is NZ coal? Mining lobby faces conservationists
Wednesday, 25 November 2020, 1:48 pm | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
Coal plays a small part in greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand, Minerals West Coast manager Patrick Phelps told West Coast Tai Poutini Conservation Board this month. More >>
Longtime Councillor’s Resignation Over Māori Constituencies Forces Byelection
Tuesday, 3 November 2020, 11:34 am | Susan Botting - Local Democracy Reporter
Northland Regional Council is being forced into a byelection after longtime councillor John Bain resigned over Māori constituencies. Former Northland Regional Council (NRC) deputy chair John Bain resigned and walked out of NRC’s October monthly council ... More >>
Wheelie Bins Proposed For Kerbside Collections In Marlborough … Again
Tuesday, 3 November 2020, 11:33 am | Chloe Ranford - Local Democracy Reporter
Wheelie bins are back on the table in Marlborough, with a waste review calling them an “ideal” solution to “inconvenient” bin bags and crates. The Marlborough District Council has been umming and ahhing over wheelie bins for more than a decade, ... More >>
Mayor To Lead By Example And Oppose Controversial Dog Bylaw
Tuesday, 3 November 2020, 11:31 am | Chloe Ranford - Local Democracy Reporter
A controversial proposal to leash dogs at a popular reserve has prompted Marlborough’s mayor to make his first bylaw submission in a decade at the council. John Leggett walks his bichon frise poodle crosses Bella and Hugo along Blenheim's Taylor River ... More >>
ACT Draws Miniscule Crowd In Whakatane
Wednesday, 7 October 2020, 10:04 am | Charlotte Jones - Local Democracy Reporter
Firearms, the welfare state and education were the main topics at an ACT party public meeting in Whakatane on Monday. Two ACT candidates, Nicole McKee for Rongotai and Cameron Luxton for Tauranga, spoke to nine of the party’s faithful at the Whakatane ... More >>
Dumped Librarian Petition Fails
Wednesday, 7 October 2020, 10:02 am | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
A 600-strong petition for the reinstatement of Kaikoura's long-serving librarian Cheryl Barker appears to have fallen on deaf ears at the Kaikoura District Council. Local woman Sharon Rayner presented the petition at the council's monthly meeting ... More >>
Ardern Responds To West Coast Councils’ Concerns
Tuesday, 29 September 2020, 4:00 pm | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
A number of the government's policies have drawn flak from West Coast councils this year -- notably those on biodiversity, wetlands, fossil fuels and the use of conservation land. Greymouth Star local democracy reporter LOIS WILLIAMS sat down with Prime Minister ... More >>
Wairarapa’s World-renowned Wetlands Project Damaged
Tuesday, 29 September 2020, 3:58 pm | Marcus Anselm - Local Democracy Reporter
Further damage to restorative planting on the banks of Wairarapa Moana/Lake Wairarapa could see offenders face fines and banning orders. Earlier this month, volunteers on the Wairarapa Moana Wetlands project discovered uprooted plants and damage across ... More >>
Council “cagey” About Eels As School Boosts Wetlands
Thursday, 17 September 2020, 11:03 am | Marcus Anselm - Local Democracy Reporter
Wairarapa's water critters were getting pampered this week. The NZ longfin eel pictured near the gabion cages installed in Makoura Stream. PHOTO/SUPPLIED Three gabion cages will provide a safe habitat for eels in Masterton's Makoura waterway. Further downstream, ... More >>
Honest Realities Of Natural Burial Discussed
Wednesday, 9 September 2020, 12:14 pm | Charlotte Jones - Local Democracy Reporter
INFORMATION SESSION: Mark Blackham from New Zealand Natural Burials answers questions from the crowd on the practice which is new to the Whakatane District. TROY BAKER / WHAKATANE BEACON Death’s veil was lifted a little on Monday as the community ... More >>
Conservation Minister Responds To Ngai Tahu Board Boycott
Wednesday, 9 September 2020, 12:05 pm | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
Eugenie Sage and West Coast farmer Katie Milne at the launch of the $15 million predator-free Te Kinga project, Lake Brunner, in May. The Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage is rebutting claims by Ngai Tahu that her recent appointments to the West Coast ... More >>
“No Ecologists On My Land’ – West Coast Regional Council Chair
Tuesday, 1 September 2020, 4:09 pm | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
West Coast Regional Council chairman Allan Birchfield has vowed to bar ecologists from his land if they come looking for significant natural areas (SNAs). Cr Birchfield is a member of the Te Tai o Poutini Committee, which has just commissioned the first ... More >>
Mussels To Be Poured On Mussel Shell Reef To Revive ‘devastated’ Population
Tuesday, 1 September 2020, 4:07 pm | Chloe Ranford - Local Democracy Reporter
A boatload of mussel shells have been sunk off Marlborough’s shores to create a reef that will help revive marine life and a multimillion-dollar industry. The Marine Farming Association will place 20 tonnes of live green-lipped mussels atop ... More >>
DHB Data Shows Scale Of Staffing Shortages In Mental Health Services
Tuesday, 1 September 2020, 4:05 pm | Steve Forbes - Local Democracy Reporter
New figures released by Counties Manukau Health under the Official Information Act show its Mental Health and Addiction department has a staffing shortage of 121 positions. It comes at a time when demand for such services is high because of Covid-19, with ... More >>
Waste Disposal Levies Could Jump 500 Per Cent In Marlborough Under New ‘guilt Tax’
Wednesday, 19 August 2020, 10:20 am | Chloe Ranford - Local Democracy Reporter
The cost of dumping waste in Marlborough could climb over the next four years as the Government looks at rolling out a "guilt tax” to reduce rubbish being sent to landfill. The price of Marlborough bin bags will increase if a new Government ... More >>
Middlemore Hospital’s $67.5m Mental Health Unit Nears Completion
Monday, 10 August 2020, 11:09 am | Steve Forbes - Local Democracy Reporter
The final stage of Middlemore Hospital’s new $67.5 million mental health unit is expected to be completed this month and according to a Counties Manukau District Health Board report it will set the benchmark for similar facilities in New Zealand. ... More >>
