West Auckland local board candidates are fuming over the late bid by Auckland Transport to change the bylaw concerning roadside election advertising signs.

Plans to intensify transport corridors and develop the harbour edge are on a collision course with expansion and container growth at the Ports of Auckland.

Auckland Council's partners in a study on upper North Island ports are up for more work to get the best out of the ports of Auckland, Tauranga and Northland.

The latest plans to industrialise and expand more of the Waitemata Harbour for port business are on the verge of becoming a reality.

One of the few Auckland councillors to make a real difference in the first term of the Super City, Sandra Coney, is stepping down at October's local body elections to focus on issues closer to home by standing for the Waitakere Ranges Local Board.

I am tired of this liberal welfare-state namby-pamby that we have an obligation to help out the less fortunate, writes Ananish Chaudhuri.

A law change to allow the Government to override councils in order to free up land for housing developments was opposed by a slim majority of New Zealanders surveyed.

Wellington gives a "very confused picture of itself" to the rest of the country.

Fletcher Developments wants new houses to be taller than the Auckland Council is proposing.

Wellington's earthquakes have put the spotlight back on seismic issues.

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

A clamping company charging people $100 for parking for as little as a minute in a carpark have been accused of bullying.

Building park-and-ride facilities is the first transport priority for Auckland mayoral candidate John Palino, whose long-term solution is to build satellite centres where people can live, work and play.

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.

RadioLIVE has dubbed Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee the Minister of No, writes Fran O'Sullivan. It is a label that might just stick after his frank response to Auckland Mayor Len Brown's latest foray into transport funding.

Watercare Services has hit back at critics of the $800 million central interceptor plan.

A Waikato wellness retreat that has nurtured hundreds of earthquake-frazzled Christchurch residents back to health for free may have to close its doors.

A lopsided mayoralty race is bad enough, but at councillor level, confusion abounds, writes Brian Rudman. "With what promises to be a one-horse mayoral race, this October's contest is likely to attract a turnout more akin to the 38 per cent of 2007."

Auckland is a work in progress and now is not the time to deviate from the current path, says Len Brown as he seeks a second term as mayor of the Super City.

The Government's willingness to bail out councils that break the law is angering the ratepayers who are paying the cost.

John Palino, mayoral candidate, restaurateur, businessman and actor, spent some time this week giving me a lesson on acting techniques.

The deputy leader of Communities and Residents, George Wood, has abandoned the centre-right ticket and set up a new ticket on the North Shore to contest October's local body elections.