An Auckland Council IT project originally budgeted to cost $71 million should be delivered for the new cost of $172 million, says a senior council executive.

Catherine Delahunty writes: Gareth Morgan has many interesting opinions and is well informed but his opinion piece on Maori representation on local councils requires a response.

Auckland Council has undertaken a review of guidelines for methamphetamine-contaminated properties and developed tough new proposals to be implemented next month.

Key Auckland transport projects - including some on which work has already started - face long delays unless new funding can be found from road tolls or higher rates.

Dividing up the resources of any society normally involves exploiting the majority for the benefit of the minority, and NZ is no exception, writes Bryce Edwards.

If I were a bit doddery on my feet, or wheelchair-bound, I suspect I'd be delighted to be able to totter around the summit of Maungawhau/Mt Eden at my own pace.

Auckland Council has been told it already has power to ban street prostitution from spots such as Hunters Corner after a bid to get Parliament to change the law failed.

A lobby group says revelations Auckland Council spent $30,000 on “secret rooms” for Len Brown show New Zealand needs recall elections.

Thousands of dollars have been spent building a private bathroom and dressing room hidden behind a bookcase in under-fire Auckland Mayor Len Brown's new office.

A proposal for councils in Wellington and Wairarapa to combine to form a super city has been met with criticism, some saying the voice of the region has not been heard.

Two mayors from the Wellington region have voiced their concerns surrounding the Local Government Commission's proposal for a Wellington super city.

One super city would take over the functions of nine councils in the lower North Island under a draft proposal by the Local Government Commission.

As a wave of pro-intensification development sweeps Auckland more residents will find themselves battling to preserve the character of their neighbourhoods.

At first blush the proposal to ban cars from the summits of Auckland's volcanoes seems outrageous; on reflection, not so bad.

Auckland Council bungled the amount of money owed by veteran activist Penny Bright, who is facing court action and the seizure of her home over years of unpaid rates.

The Auckland Council has agreed to underwrite "housing bonds" worth $30 million to kick-start more than 200 new homes for low-income families.

Valuations on about 30 per cent of Auckland properties - around 135,000 homes - are "wildly wrong", a valuation business claims.

The days of driving to the summit of Auckland's volcanic cones are coming to an end, starting with a ban on all vehicles up Mt Eden.

A few weeks ago Auckland Council voted by a narrow majority to impose grotesquely large rate increases on thousands of Auckland's ratepayers.

Bryce Edwards asks: Why does John Key continue to stay close to Cameron Slater, and will this decision ultimately lead to Key’s downfall?

Auckland Mayor Len Brown is locking future ratepayers into paying at least $90 million a year for operational costs once trains begin using the City Rail Link some time from 2021.

Cash-hungry Auckland Council leaders are eyeing a proposal to replace the complex Dominion Rd interchange with traffic lights to free valuable land for housing and commercial development.

Amanda Banks' "obsessive" detective work saw her husband John Banks' electoral fraud conviction quashed and answered a High Court judge's doubts over her honesty.

When the Corruption Perception Index comes out next week there will be much attention paid to whether New Zealand takes a dive, writes Bryce Edwards.

Mike Hosking asks, "Am I the only one who thinks things around Auckland Council are getting hopelessly out of control?"

The whole Roger Sutton controversy raises important questions and concerns about sexual politics and the state, writes Bryce Edwards.

A trust that funded Auckland Mayor Len Brown's election campaign and kept donors' identities secret is under police investigation.

Who runs New Zealand? That’s one of the big questions to arise out of the Waitangi Tribunal’s landmark ruling that Maori never gave away sovereignty.

Perhaps the balmy spring weather is lulling me into a false sense of optimism, but I am getting the feeling that the old Auckland City administration "skyscraper" might survive the wrecker's ball after all.