Author: Press Room

It is a special year for Patersons. The multi-disciplinary land development and civil company marks 125 years since its beginnings as a two-man surveying practice in Dunedin. Appropriately, the firm — which delivers engineering, surveying and planning services throughout the South Island — is bringing its staff to the city for its Christmas function. Already the year has seen wider acknowledgement for Patersons which won the 2025 Consulting Surveyors of New Zealand (CSNZ) Business Excellence Award. Presented at the Survey and Spatial New Zealand conference in Christchurch, the award acknowledged a standout business that “leads the profession through exceptional people…

Northbank Rd northwest of Blenheim has officially reopened to two-lane traffic, nearly four months after it was buried by a huge slip.The road was opened to two lanes under a reduced speed of 30km/h on Friday, just in time for Marlborough Anniversary Weekend.Marlborough Roads transport recovery manager Steve Murrin said it was satisfying to be able to remove the traffic lights.“This week crews completed work on stabilising the slip including hydroseeding and removing the last of the material that was still sitting on Northbank Rd,” he said.“This has been a complex site with 28,536 cubic metres of material removed from…

Mt Cook Alpine Salmon chief executive (left) and board chairman Sir Bill English at last month’s board meeting. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Mt Cook Alpine Salmon has reported its strongest ever financial results including record sales of $55 million. Chief executive David Cole said the results reflected the success of the company’s long-term growth strategy. It had expanded tenfold over the past decade, from an annual turnover of less than $5m. Provisional ebitda of $14.1m was up from $5.3m last year and, while net earnings were still being finalised, a “very healthy” net profit after tax was expected, he said. Last month,…

In her role as the stern, inscrutable Governess, she’s one of The Chase’s biggest stars. But it took decades before Anne Hegerty learned to understand her unusual mind and manage her life. Ahead of The Chase New Zealand launching on Monday, Hegarty talks to Emily Simpson. Anne Hegerty’s life might have been a whole lot simpler if she’d understood from childhood that she was on the autism spectrum. Such a diagnosis was rare in the 1960s and seldom handed out to children without clear developmental delays. But it would surely have eased Hegerty’s path through some tough years – the…

Health NZ Te Whatu Ora has today released CCTV footage of a fire which damaged around 28 vehicles in a staff carpark at Whangārei Hospital last week in a bid to “quell ongoing speculation and misinformation online”.Emergency services responded to reports of the blaze at around 2pm on Tuesday, October 21.A column of thick black smoke was seen billowing from the carpark and was visible from across Whangārei.Around 28 cars were damaged in the inferno with an unknown number of them destroyed, Fire and Emergency NZ confirmed at the time.A 10-minute clip released online by Te Whatu Ora today showed…

A Christchurch retailer has failed to survive a crowded shoe market, resulting in debts to creditors of more than $600,000, including outstanding wages and holiday pay for staff. Street Legal Shoes Limited has operated four retail stores in Christchurch, as well as Rangiora and Dunedin, and an online site since starting the footwear business in 2004. After efforts to continue were unsuccessful, shareholders Hamish Mcdonnell, Jeremy Mcdonnell and Rachael Wyllie put the company into voluntary liquidation on October 21. Ashton Wheelans accountant Andrew Oorschot was appointed liquidator and released his first liquidation report on October 29. Staff were found to…

The Government has confirmed to 1News that measles vaccines are now free for everyone in New Zealand over the age of one including adults who weren’t previously eligible for funded healthcare.Health officials are racing to contain a growing measles outbreak and one of the country’s largest schools made partial closures today to prevent further spread.Auckland Grammar asked all Year 9 and 10 students to stay home after a person infected with measles was on campus last Friday.Headmaster Tim O’Connor said the school worked through the night with public health officials to notify families and staff.“We learned of the case late…

Published on 31/10/2025 – 16:19 GMT+1 The European Commission on Friday expressed confidence that a deal to allow the UK to take part in one of the EU’s flagship defence programmes will be concluded over the next two weeks with enough time for member states to adjust their rearmament plans. Brussels and London have been engaged in talks since the summer to allow the UK to take part in the bloc’s SAFE programme aimed at boosting joint procurement of European-made weapon systems as the EU looks to rearm aggressively in response to Russia’s threat. EU member states have until the…

Amnesty International’s Secretary General has accused New Zealand of “failing Tuvalu” and “reneging on its climate commitments”, warning the Government is neglecting its global responsibilities as rising seas threaten to swallow Pacific nations.Agnès Callamard, who visited Tuvalu earlier this month, told 1News she witnessed “a people and a government who are fighting… a climate catastrophe they are not responsible for”.“We have spent centuries driving the planet to its knees through an economic model that is hungry for profit, even when that profit means killing people or killing the planet. We are completely responsible,” she said. In Amnesty’s new report. Navigating…

A fuel explosion at a Marlborough Sounds holiday home that fatally burned an 80-year-old man was caused by a contaminated mixture of kerosene and methylated spirits in a kerosene fridge, a coroner has found.The explosion occurred on January 26, 2019, at the family’s Endeavour Inlet property where Picton man Anzac MacDonald was staying with his wife, daughter, and grandson.The family had owned the home for generations and the kerosene fridge, a rare appliance generally used in remote areas, had been in place for more than 40 years.Kerosene fridges operated without electricity, using a flame created by a wick in a…