West Coast

The West Coast Regional Council's core debt has risen to $24 million, as it embarks on the largest infrastructure programme in its history.

The mother of a man who was murdered 27 years ago says she is still hopeful investigators can find out more about what happened to him.

Helen Lash raised questions about Peter Haddock's family connection with one of the council's main contractors.

Freedom campers are welcome on the West Coast, but too many are leaving unwanted deposits behind, and a local mayor wants government help to clean up the problem.

As the price of gold soars to a record NZ$5000 an ounce, the West Coast is bracing for an influx of miners new to the industry - and its environmental rules.

The council this week appointed surveyor Chris Coll to fill the seat left vacant by the sudden death of Buller councillor Frank Dooley.

The council employs the equivalent of about 92 full-time staff.

The burned, skeletal remains of an elderly artist who lived alone in a house bus in a remote corner of the South Island were found beside his favourite rocking chair.

Three people have been taken to hospital, one with critical injuries, after a crash between a bus and a vehicle on the West Coast.

They were found dead at the scene.

Heavy rain warnings and watches have been issued, and people are being told to be prepared.

A restricted fire season has been declared for the Grey and Buller inland areas on the West Coast, until further notice.

Gloriavale leader Howard Temple delivered an apology to the community on Monday, acknowledging historic abuse.

Nearly a decade after almost going extinct, Aotearoa's endemic cobble skink population is making a surprising comeback.

When Wayo Carson was a boy, he loved throwing rocks. That thrill has never left.

A Westport woman says her appointment with the West Coast's new telehealth provider, Ka Ora, had her being told to "pop down" to a pharmacy a two and a half hour drive away.

The Tawhai Tunnel, near Reefton, was closed in June last year after structural damage to the tunnel lining was discovered.

Coal trucks are about to stop rumbling over Buller roads, as the 134-year-old Tawhai Tunnel reopens.

The region has come a long way in the past couple of years, in terms of planning and resources for a major event.