Stories by Alexa Cook

The Wairoa project is the largest in the region's Flood Resilience Programme and is funded by the government.

A spectacular mural at a Gisborne skatepark is the winning entry in a competition to raise awareness of a free counselling service for young people in distress. Audio

A cyclone-hit village in Hawke's Bay is struggling to get mental health support for its tamariki, with requests for a social worker being repeatedly turned down or ignored. Audio

Iwi liaison officers are also providing support to the five-year-old's grieving whānau.

As four words echoed around the crowd, their faces fell and they turned to each other for comfort. Audio

Dozens of people gathered to support grieving family as Khyzah's body was taken home. Audio

A Hawke's Bay village says a plan to build stopbanks along its river will destroy the town out in future floods. Audio

The report has been a decade in the making.

Residents have been calling for Ian Macdonald's resignation for 16 months.

A damning review has laid bare the regional council's failures before a deadly storm. Nearly 18 months on, "nothing has changed". Audio

The council is under fire for failing to carry out its functional role over the past four years. Audio

Serious concerns have been raised about a lack of planning for floods that exceeded stopbanks in a 260-page report.

A long awaited report into the Hawke's Bay Regional Council's flood protections during last year's Cyclone Gabrielle will be released later this morning.

Residents in places like Esk Valley had worried the dust contained dangerous levels of silica, but a report has found it contains no more than normal garden soil.

The country's onion crop has been slashed by at least 20 percent because of humid weather which resulted in a leaf disease.

A long awaited report into mycoplasma bovis has provided no definite answers on how the disease got here and whether it can be eradicated.

The Ministry for Primary Industries has raided three properties as part of its investigation into the cattle disease, mycoplasma bovis

An unusually hot and humid summer in the North Island has stained wool yellow, making it harder to sell and leading to lower prices.

No farmers have been caught out yet at the Ministry for Primary Industries stock truck checkpoint in Picton, it says.

Fonterra's increased forecast milk price might not stay up for long, according to AgriHQ and Rabobank.

Farms sales are continuing their downward trend with 12 percent fewer properties sold in the three months to February compared to last year.

More than 200 wild Kaimanawa horses could be sent to slaughter following this year's muster.

Primary sector exports are forecast to have their largest increase in value this year since 2014.

The number of rural birthing units being closed or downgraded has reached crisis point, Rural Women New Zealand says.

The NZ mānuka honey industry is baffled that the Australian government is funding a new international mānuka marketing campaign.