Taranaki

Hot dry conditions and below average rainfall have affected pasture growth and farmers have had to feed-out or sell livestock earlier.

See all the pictures as teams take the stage and visitors queue for hours on the first day of the "Olympics of Kapa Haka".

Contractors are this week putting the finishing touches to 12km of seal in the remote Tāngarākau Gorge. Audio

The first performers are taking the stage at the national kapa haka championships, with more than 2000 people and 55 groups set to perform. Audio

Te Matatini - the national kapa haka championships - kick off in New Plymouth tomorrow, the first time the event has been held in Taranaki for more than 30 years.

A person was critically injured and died at the scene of a quad bike crash in Purangi on Saturday.

Taranaki councillors have voted to investigate why a debate on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill was shut down by conservative councillors at a December meeting.

The government is requiring streets outside schools with permanent 30kmh speed limits revert to variable speed limits by July 2026.

New Zealand's only Māori-owned airport business - and its mirimiri clinic - has brought in extra hands to prepare for the Matatini mayhem.

Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga kicks off in two weeks and will pull together Aotearoa's finest haka rōpu for the week-long festival.

Taranaki school children have surpassed the wildest dreams of local council staff who set up a scheme to get rid of cream and milk bottle lids from Stratford's recycling collection. Audio

Emergency services were alerted to the blaze at 9.15pm last night, and it was under control by 12.30am but not fully extinguished.

"The story of Pukerangiora will now be heard from our Pukerangiora uri," hapū chairperson Nardia Lichtwark said.

Tunnelling has begun at the $280 million Te Ara o Te Ata - Mt Messenger Bypass project in North Taranaki.

The Regional Council is warning that the current La Nina weather pattern along with climate change could lead to further restrictions on how much water can be taken from rivers in the area.

Taranaki iwi harvested two tonnes of potatoes to koha groups staying at local marae for the national kapa haka festival at the end of the month.

Three people have died and commuters have been warned of delays in Auckland, Waikato and Napier, after a day of crashes and a police incident involving the Armed Offenders Squad.

The Italian alders have been blamed for damaging footpaths and causing people to slip and fall.

Inquiries to determine the circumstances of the crash are underway.

The more than two decades-long naming rights deal at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth is coming to an end.