Stories by Lois Williams

West Coasters have been left to pay for the costs of removing waste, left throughout the region without consent and no clues to who it belongs to.

Ngāi Tahu representatives have once again pulled out of the West Coast Tai Poutini Conservation Board, accusing the Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage of an unlawful appointments process.

Wilderness advocates have urged the West Coast Conservation Board to stand up for the rights of people to experience the backcountry without seeing or hearing aircraft overhead.

West Coast Regional Council chairman Allan Birchfield has vowed to bar ecologists from his land if they come looking for significant natural areas.

The first stage of work is beginning to identify significant natural areas (SNAS) on private land on the West Coast.

Three West Coast residents who dug up a wetland, a creek and an eroding beach had no consent for their activities, an investigation has found.

Buller Mayor Jamie Cleine is suggesting Reefton people be consulted over plans to set up a network of security cameras in their town.

Councils working on one district plan for the whole West Coast have grasped the nettle and given the go-ahead for the mapping of significant natural areas (SNAs) on private land.

The burgeoning Gloriavale Christian Community at Lake Haupiri is looking to expand with a second compound at Lake Brunner, West Coast council leaders have heard.

Reefton's long-serving weather guru Tony Fortune believes if people learned to burn coal correctly the town would not have a problem with air pollution.

The government's agreement to fund major flood protection work at Franz Josef Glacier has brought relief and new hope to the small tourist town.

West Coast councils are waiting to hear how much they will have to pitch in for flood protection work largely funded by the government as Covid-recovery 'shovel-ready' projects.

In a first for the West Coast, iwi and the regional council have teamed up with DOC to make the most of funds on offer for nature-based jobs

The West Coast Tai Poutini Conservation Board is backing a move by the government to ban the sale of moa bones.

Both tahr and deer numbers are now spiralling out of control in Westland, according to Conservation Authority member, Dr Gerry McSweeney.

The West Coast Tai Poutini Conservation Board is back on track after a six-month impasse with Ngāi Tahu over Treaty principles.

The West Coast wishlist of flood protection schemes looks set to be granted - at least in part after the government announced a $210 million investment in climate resilience.

A survey of freedom camping in Kaikōura has found most locals believe it is of little or no benefit to the town, damages the environment and poses a risk to health and safety.

A pilot scheme to attract more young Māori into health careers is being considered for West Coast communities.

It took a cheque from the government to get Fletchers to finish the new Te Nikau Grey Hospital for the West Coast, according to MP Damien O'Connor,

A West Coast iwi leader says the region's new combined district plan is a chance for councils to crack down in a more consistent way on problems caused by freedom campers.

After speaking with the Conservation Ministry Eugenie Sage, a West Coast gold miner says he's hopeful mining could be allowed on conservation land.

The West Coast Tai Poutini Conservation Board will hold its first formal meeting this year after a months-long stand-off with Poutini Ngāi Tahu.

The West Coast Regional Council has locked in its planned rates freeze for the year, and will borrow to cover the resulting budget deficit.

Patients who do not show up for medical appointments are costing the West Coast District Health Board more than $400,000 a year.