Brenworth’s new chairman Rob Hewett says a fresh approach is needed to drive the carpet company’s growth and earnings. Yesterday, the company announced Mr Hewett, Julie Bohnenn, Murray Dyer and Trevor Burt had been appointed independent directors with immediate effect. Incumbent directors Paul Izzard, Katherine Turner and Dianne Williams were…

Crunch time is looming for people who borrowed money through the small business cash-flow loan scheme, launched during the pandemic. The loans were made available in May 2020 for small businesses affected by Covid-19. Businesses were offered up to $20,000 plus $1800 per fulltime employee. More than 129,000 businesses took…

Dozens of jobs are on the line at the Department of Internal Affairs, as it continues cost-cutting measures that began last year.The department on Tuesday proposed getting rid of 180 positions and creating 116 new ones, reducing its headcount by 64.Separately, 69 fixed term contracts which were due to end…

A proposed plan to compulsorily take 172 hectares of land under the Public Works Act for a new cemetery in Auckland faces rising opposition from the landowner and local hapū.Waikūmete Cemetery in Glen Eden is at full capacity and Auckland Council is urgently working to find a new location for…

A wave of relief has swept across Auckland’s 21 local boards after being offered temporary reprieve as they struggle with cost pressures.The local boards united in a letter to Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown strongly objecting to the expectation that they absorb a $17.6 million budget shortfall.Auckland Council’s proposed cost-cutting measures…

By Lauren Crimp and Giles Dexter of RNZ A major provider of the government’s troubled free school lunch programme owes more than $14 million to hundreds of creditors after going into liquidation last week. Libelle Group was contracted by Compass to deliver 125,000 meals a day as part of the…

The chronic issue of fly-tipping on Tasman’s riversides continues to rear its head across the district.Since June 2024, the district council has spent almost $14,000 to clean up rubbish by the river, with recent finds including a discarded engine and trailer, and even a hut built out of pallets.”That’s not…

Olympians, local kayakers, businesses and Forest & Bird are joining forces to fight plans for a hydro-electric scheme in the Bay of Plenty.The Kaituna River is used as a training ground for extreme kayakers, but landowner Taheke 8C was preparing to lodge an application to build a weir – a…

Fluoride will start being added to Whangārei drinking water on Wednesday morning, subject to the outcome of a High Court hearing in Wellington tomorrow.Whangārei District Council this afternoon voted almost unanimously to back down at the eleventh hour on its months-long and highly-vocal refusal to fluoridate its drinking water by…

Police are investigating after shots were fired at a tavern north of Wairoa over the weekend. Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Moorhouse said officers were called to the Frasertown Tavern to reports shots had been fired towards the building shortly after 11pm on Saturday, March 15. “At least two, possibly three,…