A North Shore couple with a Down syndrome daughter say they are under severe stress and unable to repair leaky townhouses due to a three-year battle to get money.

House hunters are doing it tough - with a majority of those looking to buy in Auckland rating it as a bad time to buy.

More than half of Auckland's residential land is to be rezoned for apartments and intensification to squeeze in a million extra people by 2040.

The Supreme Court yesterday heard final submissions on a second case that could affect the Government's planned partial sale of Mighty River Power.

Last week, I started writing an open source user's guide to the Auckland Council, approaching those who have created and evolved the council.

Successful waterfronts around the world have a mix of commercial, residential and public uses, writes John Dalzell. Our aim is to get the balance between these elements right.

Auckland Council's chief planner says he wants the inner-city rail link completed by 2021, despite the Government saying there is a stronger case for building it almost a decade later.

Former policeman George Wood says he did not realise he was breaking the law by taking a cellphone photograph while driving across the harbour bridge.

The Auckland Council has stopped a mobile phone pole being erected in a park because it would threaten trees - so instead it will be put up in a Whangaparaoa street.

The International Rodeo could be barred from returning to Forsyth Barr Stadium if the Dunedin City Council agrees to a plea from animal rights group Safe.

The Government is offering to hand over its interests in Eden Park, the Cloud and Queens Wharf to the Auckland Council, but the deal carries financial risks to ratepayers.

Giving building owners 10 years to strengthen earthquake-prone buildings would amount to an "execution order" for many heritage buildings, says the Auckland Council.

Proposals to change the Official Information Act are at odds with the Government's claims it is committed to openness and transparency, the Green Party says.

Aucklanders have a pleasant surprise in store next summer holidays when "no trespassing" signs come down at a secluded coastal industrial complex.

The Maori Council says key principles behind its 1987 Lands case victory apply with greater force over its current bid to delay the sale of Mighty River Power.

A Far North district councillor has just days to stump up more than $800,000 or face bankruptcy.

The Maori Council's final bid to delay the Government's flagship asset sales policy until Maori water claims are dealt with.

A stormwater project in Freemans Bay has cost ratepayers $201,000 and dangerous underground working conditions have raised safety concerns, according to a source.

They installed a new self-checkout machine at my local library. It happened in October but I noticed it only a few weeks ago.

More than 80 per cent of those who live with cats consider them to be a member of the family, writes Bob Kerridge.

There is no relief in sight from the long, dry summer that has made the country tinder-dry.

Mayor Len Brown's long-promised peek into our city leaders' private lives offers giggles but little else for gossip hounds, writes Brian Rudman.

Auckland's water storage levels are dropping steadily as the year's dry spell continues, with sunny weather forecast to last through the week.

Auckland Transport has quietly dropped a controversial feature of its $2.86 billion underground rail project.