Author: Press Room

Pay to use loos have been floated as a solution to combat the increasing vandalism of public toilets across Mid Canterbury.Ratepayers footed a toilet vandalism bill of more than $30,000 over the previous two years, while loo paper thieves are targeting a number of facilities.Ashburton District Councillor Rob Mackle raised the possibility of a trial user-pays toilets at last week’s activity briefing meeting.“Overseas they do it, and it’s effective.”Vandalism of the toilet facilities has been “constant” during his time as councillor, he said.He suggested introducing the user pays trial on the toilets that had the most repeated damage.There was a…

Tātaki Auckland Unlimited says Auckland is unable to proceed with a bid to host the next America’s Cup in 2027.  In a statement, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (TAU) chief executive Nick Hill confirmed the news with “great disappointment” this morning.”Auckland’s bid was contingent on a three-way funding partnership between Auckland Council, central government and the private sector. MBIE has informed TAU that the government is unable provide the funds required and on that basis the bid cannot proceed,” he said. Why the govt decided not to fund hosting the Cup: Watch on TVNZ+He said the situation illustrates the need for “a long-term…

Two people have been found dead at a home in the Wellington suburb of Roseneath overnight.Around 10pm police received a request from a concerned family member to carry out a welfare check at the property.Detective Inspector Haley Ryan said police found the bodies of two people.A scene examination was underway at the property today and inquiries into the circumstances of their deaths were ongoing.Ryan said she wanted to provide assurance that there was “no ongoing risk” to the community.”The Roseneath community can expect to see a high presence of police while our inquiries are carried out.”

A proposed pedestrian crossing to get people across a busy Christchurch road and into Hagley Park has become “a bit of a joke”, after two community boards voted for different plans at a joint meeting.The result meant a new $500,000 crossing for Deans Avenue, near Al Noor Mosque, would have speed bumps on a narrowed southbound lane but none on the single lane heading north.The decision was made at a joint meeting of the Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton and Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central community boards last Thursday.Both were involved in the decision-making as the Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton board’s area covers the west side of Deans…

Brussels has a “strong plan to retaliate” against Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, Ursula von der Leyen has said while calling for a “negotiated solution”. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Union holds “a lot of cards” that can be leveraged to negotiate, dissuade and, if needed, “push back” against Donald Trump’s plan to impose sweeping reciprocal tariffs on all America’s trading partners, Ursula von der Leyen has said on the eve of what the US president has dubbed “Liberation Day”.Trump, whose unprecedented initiative has antagonised long-time allies, rattled stock markets and raised the spectre of recession, has said his tariffs would target “all countries” as…

Minister for Rail Winston Peters has hit back at Labour’s suggestion he bears some responsibility for the ferry fracas, saying what he ordered in 2020 was not what Labour ended up trying to build.Peters on Monday revealed the coalition government’s replacement Interislander ferry plan, which he said would be “billions of dollars cheaper” than Labour’s iReX project, which the government canned in December 2023.The new Interislander ferries being delivered in 2029 will be about 200m long, 28m wide and carry rail, Peters said – about 20m shorter and two metres thinner than the original plan.Peters said marine infrastructure in Picton…

A 30-metre-long barge tipped at Tauranga marina yesterday.A Bay of Plenty Regional Council spokesperson said staff were notified that the barge operating in the marina had tipped on its side at around 2.15pm on Monday, resulting in the crane lying in the water.No-one was injured in the incident, which saw around 10 litres of diesel spill.”Proactive absorbent booms are already in place to contain this. A light sheen may be visible near the containment area,” the spokesperson said.Staff were on site working with relevant parties to ensure the barge was safely secured, they added.”It will continue to be monitored until…

On Monday, a French court found National Rally leader Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzling EU funds and barred her from contending any election for five years, including France’s next presidential election in 2027. ADVERTISEMENTWhat is in line for the political career for the National Rally leader, Marine Le Pen? Today Radio Schuman digs in to the aftermath of the court barring Marine Le Pen from running for public office for five years with Euronews journalist Greg Leroy.Le Pen has condemned the ruling as politically motivated and stated that millions of French citizens are outraged. She vowed to appeal and…

A new senior official who leads the Ministry of Health and has oversight of the more than $29 billion public health budget has been appointed today.Audrey Sonerson has been appointed as the Director-General of Health and the chief executive of the Ministry of Health, Deputy Public Service Commissioner Heather Baggott has announced.Sonerson, currently the acting Director-General of Health, was transferred into the permanent role following the resignation of the previous Director-General, Dr Diana Sarfati, in February.Sarfati’s was the third major resignation in the sector during February, following Margie Apa as Health NZ chief executive and director of public health Dr…

A Queenstown councillor has been demoted from her committee roles after she blew the whistle on plans to discharge 12 million litres of treated effluent each day into the nearby Shotover River.The Queenstown Lakes District Council held an extraordinary meeting today over Niki Gladding’s positions in council and whether her actions were a breach of the organisation’s code of conduct.She would remain a councillor but has been removed as the deputy chair and member of the infrastructure committee, and member of the audit, finance and risk committee. Of the decision, Queenstown Lakes District Council Mayor Glyn Lewers said he was…