Author: Press Room

Queenstown Lakes District Council coffers will be boosted by just over $5 million this month, thanks to Queenstown Airport. The airport has declared a $7m dividend for the first half of the financial year — as majority shareholder, the council will receive $5.2m, the balance going to Auckland International Airport Ltd (AIAL). Chairman Simon Flood said the business had started the financial year well, with a strong financial performance and significant progress towards its strategic goals. The interim report for the six months to December 31, 2024, show revenue of $40.4m, up 22% on the same period the previous year,…

The search is continuing for a man now missing for a month after his burnt out vehicle was found on a farm in the Waikato region.Travis Langford travelled from Wellington to the Waikato region, where his burnt out vehicle was found on a farm on Tolley Rd in Ngaroma on January 18.Personal items belonging to Langford were found during an initial search carried out by police, joined by his loved ones, in the area where his vehicle was found and into the South Waikato region.”In recent weeks, there have been sightings of a man in the Waipapa and Mangakino areas…

Police have laid charges after three people were injured by a vehicle fleeing a robbery through a car park in Auckland.The troubling incident began with a woman stealing items from a Woolworths supermarket on Lincoln Rd in Henderson, shortly after 11am on January 27, Detective Senior Sergeant Megan Goldie said today in a statement.The woman then allegedly fled to a waiting vehicle.”The driver tried to leave the car park quickly but, in the process, crashed into another vehicle carrying two occupants,” Goldie said.”Shockingly, the getaway driver allegedly stole a handbag from the victims he had just crashed into after the…

A missing dog has been relocated today after a brazen break-in at the Nelson SPCA — but two other animals remain missing.The burglary has left staff and animals shaken.Nelson SPCA manager Amy Sturkenboom said staff were “horrified” when they arrived at work on Monday morning. She showed 1News all of the cat cages which were open and where the animals were roaming free.”Any area that had been accessed, the animals were out.”Sturkenboom said staff found areas in the fences and cages that had been cut through. “There must have been some wirecutters and we actually found a leftover tool as…

Former politician Te Ururoa Flavell is part of a group of cyclists on a week-long bike ride from Auckland to New Plymouth, with an additional loop around Taranaki Maunga, to raise awareness for cervical and prostate cancer.The ‘Ride for Talei’ is part of the Smear Your Mea campaign, which was first launched by the late Talei Morrison, a passionate kapa haka performer who died of cervical cancer in 2018. The ride has become an annual event to coincide with the biennial Te Matatini Festival, the national kapa haka competition.The group left this morning from Tāmaki Makaurau after a send-off from…

The concrete separators along Māpua’s Aranui Rd will be removed after community opposition to their presence — but a cycling advocate says the change puts cyclists at risk.Cycle lanes were added to the road by Tasman District Council in 2023 alongside the separators to physically keep vehicles away from cyclists using the new lanes.The changes were made as part of the largely government-funded Streets for People programme which aimed to trial active travel infrastructure that could be cheaply altered in response to feedback.However, the separators proved controversial and were vocally despised by some residents of the seaside town.Many claimed the…

A passenger on Jetstar’s Sunday morning flight to Dunedin said dozens of people were left without their bags after Jetstar off-loaded their luggage and did not tell them until they reached their destination.A similar incident the previous day resulted in 13 volunteers being asked to get off an over-fuelled Air New Zealand flight from Wellington to Dunedin or risk having their baggage left behind.On the Jetstar flight, Alison Boyce was heading south for a trip to Stewart Island but was forced to rebook her onward travel and wait for her bag, which was left in Auckland and contained vital gear…

A group of road workers helped stop a woman who was allegedly driving while three times over the legal limit with a baby in the car yesterday. Police said the road crew first spotted the woman after she drove her vehicle the wrong way through a set of works on SH29 in the Kaimai Ranges. “She came to a stop, and the roading crew noticed she was disoriented and managed to keep her stationary while police were called.”Police were called to the scene at around 2pm. The road workers told police the woman appeared intoxicated when spoken to and saw…

The UK government has been criticised for bringing in new guidance which effectively bans refugees who entered the country illegally from acquiring British citizenship. ADVERTISEMENTThere have been conflicting claims by politicians and social media users that the UK’s recent decision to make it harder for refugees to get British citizenship goes against the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.The government issued new guidance saying that anyone who enters the UK illegally having made a dangerous journey, such as via a small boat or hiding in a vehicle, will normally be refused citizenship.This is regardless of the amount of time they had lived…

A new ‘three-strikes’ system will be introduced across Southland in a bid to clamp down on reckless recyclers.Today, the Waste Advisory Group approved a system which meant offenders who received three red tags in one calendar year would lose their bin.A report prepared for the meeting showed the contamination rate in recycling bins for the three years to 2022/23 was around 20%.In 2023/24 alone, almost $340,000 was spent redirecting waste from recycling bins to landfill.Under the new system, offenders would have their recycling service suspended until they signed and returned a reinstatement form.Southland District Council strategic manager water and waste…