Stories by Niva Chittock

Councillors say they are listening to the public and have every intention of funding the cash-strapped centre, despite it being left out of the draft Long Term Plan.

A staff member at Oamaru Hospital was held at knifepoint while a man tried to steal her car, its chief executive says.

The region's emergency management group manager says the forecast rain is a huge amount, even for the West Coast.

Choosing an exhibition of 14 objects from more than 1.5 million diverse items in the Otago museum's collection was intimidating, its director says.

The team behind the rebuild began deliberately slowing work last year after the budget ballooned from $104m to $248m.

Christchurch midwives and māmā are celebrating the opening of new birthing unit Kurawaka: Waipapa.

A mid-Canterbury farm has been fined for discharging piggery effluent.

Natalia Rak says she has no idea why her well-loved Dunedin mural has suddenly vanished.

Foodstuffs says its Wānaka New World stores have decided to stay open across Easter Weekend in breach of the holiday's trading laws.

The behaviour forced the library to shorten its hours and roster staff on in pairs.

Sir Russell Coutts has railed against what he called exorbitant fees for the sailing race, but ratepayers and taxpayers picked up much of the tab.

Canterbury Regional Council unlawfully granted a resource consent for contaminant discharge in Ashburton, the High Court has ruled.

Trust member says he doesn't want to take money from "any activity that potentially posed harm to the animals that I'm studying".

The popular venue was a fixture of the Arts Centre for decades, but has been derelict since it sustained serious earthquake damage in 2011.

Community leaders experienced a full blown adrenaline rush as the Christchurch Adventure Park reopened for the first time since the Port Hills wildfire five weeks ago.

South Island Resource Recovery Limited wants to build a waste-to-energy plant but has yet to complete a consent application that was first filed 18 months ago.

Described as being like "Formula One without safety barriers", ten high speed catamarans are in town for the New Zealand leg of SailGP this weekend.

Police are offering a $100,000 reward for credible information relating to missing Marlborough woman Jessica Boyce, who vanished five years ago today.

A close look at wastewater has revealed which towns drink most, and turned up one mysterious, particularly boozy night.

A Rolleston College student wept as she told Education Ministry staff about the state of the school.

Timaru locals had described the stench as like that of a dead animal or offal.

Health workers are "sick of waiting" for authorities to settle holiday and leave entitlement payments owed, the nurses' union says.

The Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority found bar staff continued to serve the man alcohol despite his level of intoxication.

A marine mammal management plan designed to prevent collisions with high speed catamarans is also yet to be completed.

The high school was evacuated this afternoon when students deliberately lit two fires inside a school building.