It was the year of the trier, a year when optimists who thought the worst of the bad times had passed and only sunshine lay ahead fell flat on their faces.

After a political year full of controversy over Nicky Hager's Dirty Politics revelations, the debates still won't go away, writes Bryce Edwards.

Plans to raise household rates in Auckland by 5.6 per cent next year and 4.5 per cent a year thereafter are due to approved for public consultation today.

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.

Britomart has gone from decay to super cool, churning over $1.3 billion a year to the Auckland economy, says a book tracing the first 10 years of the redevelopment.

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.

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.

Senior Cera staff raised concerns about former chief executive Roger Sutton's behaviour more than a week before an official complaint was made.

Housing Minister Nick Smith and Auckland Mayor Len Brown are talking up the first year of the Auckland Housing Accord.

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.

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.

Who's in line to challenge Len Brown to become Auckland's next mayor? The Herald has analysed the early possibilities.

The Herald has had an overwhelming response from readers since revealing the plan to ban all vehicles from Mt Eden's summit.

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.