The Electoral Office has added business school owner Susanna Kruger to the list of candidates standing for the Auckland mayoralty.

Auckland Council says 25 names were left off its candidate list for the upcoming local elections due to an "administrative oversight".

Mayoral candidate Phil Goff has launched a bold plan to plant a million trees and shrubs in Auckland.

There are 17 people in the running for the Auckland Council's top job.

Nominations for positions on the various local government bodies representing Rotorua residents ended today at midday, now the real

COMMENT: Let's hope this election we might see some long-standing or well-known names step down and some new brooms.

INTERACTIVE: View our interactive map of Auckland's proposed Unitary Plan to see the building heights and density allowed in your street and suburb.

Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown announced today she will not be standing for re-election in October.

COMMENT: Women and their supporters have the opportunity to change the dynamics of local government this year.

Auckland's Unitary Plan will be transformative for the city with proposals allowing enough commercial and industrial development to let business thrive: expert.

COMMENT: The present young seem to have missed out not just on the direct action gene, but the voting gene as well.

If you believe you can do a better job for your district, city or community, now is the time to put your hand up.

More than 30 people attended two candidate workshops in the Ruapehu area recently for those interested in standing in the local body

The Christchurch city council is facing a multi-billion dollar problem as it tries to find an insurer and options to cover the network of underground pipes.

Auckland doesn't need to wait for better public transport - the right toll system could ease gridlock now.

Often, driving in Auckland, I feel like I'm in a failed state. Have warlords taken over?

Sometime next year, when the Waterview tunnels are opened, Auckland's planned motorway network will be virtually complete.

It's Auckland's biggest new tower and shopping centre - and Commercial Bay says H & M and HSBC will be tenants.

COMMENT: This is an issue for the entire country because if Auckland doesn't work, the country doesn't work, writes Rachel Smalley. It's our economic powerhouse.

I live in the go-to suburb for "gentrification" comedy. Even a house in naff Avondale is now unaffordable.

Labour's push for the Government to abolish Auckland's city limits to get people out of cars, caravans, garages and tents has riled critics but gained support from a business lobby group.

COMMENT: Let's take action on homelessness which has a better chance of fixing the problem and which returns our pavements to pedestrians.

Len Brown wrapped up his last budget yesterday with a 2.4 per cent rates rise - the lowest increase in his six budgets as Mayor of Auckland.

The days of local politicians double-dipping on the Super City have ended after a bill by National list MP Alfred Ngaro passed into law last night.

COMMENT: If there is one part of Auckland that embodies everything wrong with the Council, the SH1 intersection with Hill St at Warkworth would be it.

COMMENT: Research by the Auckland City Mission shows the number of homeless in the Auckland CBD doubled between 2013 and 2014.

COMMENT: While the cost of the remedial work will not be insignificant, it needs to be viewed in context, writes Penny Webster.

The suggestion of a port at Muriwai - one of Auckland's wild west coast communities sitting in a regional park - has not gone down well.

COMMENT: Finally, two Auckland City councillors are stepping up to the plate to deal with the scourge of beggars in the city, writes Larry Williams.

Ethical investment has come with a price tag of more than $380,000 for a council fund.