Stories by Susan Botting

Far North mayor Moko Tepania says he will support a challenge to a new rule around polling on Māori wards.

A review of the political structure is underway by Kaipara District Council despite a legal challenge over the Māori Ward abolition.

It has become the first council to do so under the new rules in a tense meeting.

The council will potentially be the first council in the country to get rid of Māori wards under legislation passed last week.

Mayor Craig Jepson would not predict the decision but said he would be voting to remove the ward.

Far North District Council is calling for part of the fast-tracking bill to be wiped due to fears it will allow mining currently prohibited in outstanding natural areas.

The new rules mean Northland's councils must poll their communities at the next election if they want to keep their Māori wards.

Councils that want to keep their Māori wards at the next local elections should have to poll their communities beforehand, former local government leader John Bain says.

The $630,000 year-long Northland flood-affected marae project starts in July.

The mayor is attracting criticism for refusing to allow council debate on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict next week.

The current power cut, affecting tens of thousands of homes in Northland, will have significant economic impacts for many, a local mayor says.

A new Northland climate action group has slammed Kaipara District Council's move to "plough on" with climate funding cuts. This comes as Kaipara District Council (KDC) this month seals the...

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown is pouring cold water on talk of his council's rubbish going north to a proposed $730 million Kaipara waste-to-energy plant.

If Geoff Crawford loses the role, it will be the third change at the head of Northland Regional Council council's top table in 19 months.

A group of doctors opposed to the facilities is warning of major potential human health risks if one goes ahead in Northland.

New Zealand's highest-ranked civil defence emergency response leader says systems, rather than people, are at the heart of major criticisms in a new report.

A council that played a key role in getting Māori ward polling removed is now lobbying against government plans to reinstate binding referendums.

Moko Tepania says the government's plan is 'disheartening' when they are already on the back foot with issues facing the region.

Replacing 205 New Zealand-made sirens with only 94 Danish-designed sirens will not mean loss of public safety, Civil Defence says.

A transport leader has slammed NZTA Waka Kotahi's 10-week closure of State Highway 1 over the beleaguered Brynderwyns, saying it is a fiasco and not justifiable.

The citizen scientist project aims to help monitor the impact of sea level rise into the future.

A proposed $730 million waste to energy incinerator to burn Auckland's rubbish could start building in two years.

Mayor Craig Jepson says he plans to lodge a formal complaint with Hato Hone St John and is seeking an apology.

The figure is almost double the council's previous highest rates increase of nine percent in 2015/2016.

Plans are underway to review the controversial new $700,000 Whangārei Heads slower speed zone amid strong local opposition.