All non-residential buildings and high-rise, multi-unit apartments in NZ will be assessed for earthquake risk and the results made public under new proposals.

A Lake Rotoiti hapu will blockade a boat ramp tomorrow to force public access to a private boat ramp which is built on the Maori-owned lake bed.

Instead of calling a dead dog's owner to say their pet had been hit by a car, an Auckland call centre said they would send a street cleaner to pick it up.

Fifty years ago, a teacher in Coromandel town predicted to her student that their charming settlement would one day be a suburb of Auckland.

Two scientists speaking at a major freshwater conference have described reversing the fouling of New Zealand's waterways as our largest environmental problem.

The Maori Council's challenge to the Government's partial asset sales plan is likely to bypass the Court of Appeal and go directly to the Supreme Court early next year in order to meet the looming deadline for the sale of Mighty River Power.

Aucklanders will have to wait longer to catch a tram from Britomart to Wynyard Quarter to help trim rates next year.

Editorial: In one swoop, all houses built before World War II will be deemed to have special merit. Never mind that in any period a mixture of good, average and awful homes are built.

The Maori Council's High Court bid to halt the sale of Mighty River Power ended in Wellington today with a decision likely before Christmas.

The Maori Council's legal bid to block the Government's asset sales programme is based on a "misconception" about the Cabinet's role in advancing the plan, Crown lawyers argued in court yesterday.

Labour proposal useful contribution to debate and will be considered, says Brown.

The Government has reinstated plans to allocate a percentage of the houses at Hobsonville Point in Auckland as affordable homes priced under $485,000.

Grafton Gully cycleway final stage of 15km dedicated trail from Te Atatu to Beach Rd.

Councillors baulk at the prospect of unleashing wardens in public reserves.

Wanganui district councillors Clive Solomon and Michael Laws remain habitual non-attenders at council and committee meetings.

A carparking building in Manukau that cost ratepayers $14 million to build is sitting virtually empty and slashing prices to attract vehicles.