The $33.4 million cost of a building to bring theatre and dance to the Auckland waterfront is almost covered by fundraisers - lifting hopes for a start to construction early next year.

Currently Auckland Central street name signs have blue backgrounds which are being phased out.

Sailor Pete Shierny is fighting for boaties' rights in Auckland Council-owned areas after a hostile "get out" message from Westhaven Marina.

More than 60 per cent of Aucklanders want their city's public spaces to be smokefree by 2016 or sooner.

Rodney Hide looks at the big changes planned for the delivery of water across Auckland.

Nominations are now open for council elections and our two largest cities find themselves with practically no mayoral contest.

Major changes are being eyed to save ratepayers money as a Herald survey shows that average rates rises of over 3 per cent have been the norm.

The starter's gun for the Super City elections goes off tomorrow when candidate nominations open for the mayoral chain.

Charging for the use of some or all of the roads in the city would be unpalatable to everybody - at first. But it's the obvious answer.

Aucklanders face steep fuel tax and rates rises from 2015 unless the council can borrow against government permission to impose new road charges in future years.

Unemployment is continuing to dog Auckland and hinder its economic recovery as employers express reluctance to take on new staff.

Auckland Council chief executive Doug McKay has become a non-executive director of the Bank of Zealand - a company with business links to the council.

Aucklanders can either introduce road tolls, or higher rates and fuel taxes to address the city's transport funding gap, a new high-level report shows.

Auckland house building activity is rising but unemployment remains high.

Drivers may be tolled at Auckland motorway exit ramps to ease pressure on ratepayers over a $12b transport funding gap.

"I see tourists regularly and they ask is there somewhere to eat and sleep?" Ken Turner's planned eco tourism venture would've been impossible earlier.

It's not just beggars who are coming in for attention - the Auckland Council is also considering changes to the rules around charity collectors, who approach people on city streets asking for donations.

It takes all sorts to make a city, and every large city in the world has beggars. Auckland is lucky - we have fewer than most.

The morale of teachers is dropping as they struggle under an ever-increasing workload because of NCEA and feel unsafe in their own classrooms, according to a report.

The early commercial strips of Karangahape Rd, Kingsland, Dominion Rd and Ponsonby Rd are under threat from the draft Unitary Plan, say heritage groups.

Auckland has lost 4 per cent of its most fertile rural land to housing over the past two decades and is set to lose more under the strain of a million more residents.

SkyCity wants underground access from its Auckland casino to the City Rail Link, raising questions about whether it helped to garner Government backing for the project.

Ever since 1923 promises of CBD trains have been dangled in front of Aucklanders by various politicians, writes Brian Rudman.

Mayor Len Brown can take a bow. He deserves most of the credit for making the rail link his own project and doggedly promoting it.

Aucklanders face a hefty rates rise or congestion charges to pay for the long-awaited Auckland City Rail Link.

Prime Minister John Key has confirmed that Government will back a city rail loop in Auckland, but will delay the start of construction by five years.