Two North Canterbury mayors are backing a call to ban the sale of fireworks. Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon and Hurunui Mayor Marie Black said they would support a ban on fireworks sales, while Kaikōura’s Craig Mackle believes a ban is “inevitable”.The mayors were responding to calls by New Zealand First…

The theft of a solid bronze Peace Bell weighing a tonne overnight on Tuesday is a tragic loss for the community, local councillors say.On Tuesday morning, Auckland Council staff discovered the bell – a treasured symbol of friendship between New Zealand and Japan – was missing from the Japanese Garden…

New figures show Australian visitor arrivals surged over the past year — while migration data shows a record number of New Zealanders leaving.Stats NZ said visitor arrivals from across the Tasman reached 1.48 million in the year ended September, up from 1.33m the year before.Stats NZ said it was the…

Thousands of te reo learners are gathering in Hawke’s Bay for the second year of Aotearoa’s national Māori language festival Toitū te Reo.Described as a two-day “celebration, inspiration, education, and activation of the language and culture”, it is being hosted in Heretaunga Hastings on Thursday and Friday.The audience has the…

The difficult rescue of two people stuck on the rocks at a blowhole on the Coromandel Peninsula this morning became even more complicated when a bystander fell into the surf on the incoming tide. Emergency services were called to the Whiritoa blowhole at the southern end of the beach at…

Farmers got a glimpse of a new no-frills electric farm bike for the first time at the Canterbury A&P Show this week that is due to be commercialised by a startup next year. The first batch of 100 Galvbikes powered by a 64V battery are expected to be released on…

A North Dunedin bottle store in the student quarter has agreed to close an hour earlier after facing a backlash.Bottle-O Cumberland originally applied to increase its off-licence hours to 9am until 10pm each day.Currently, its hours vary from 10am to 8pm on Monday and Tuesday, 10am to 10pm on Wednesday…

As Angela Davis looked at those attending the Emerging Director Awards function in Dunedin last week, she felt uplifted. Those in the room were inspiring and they were all cheerleading one another in what was a friendly, inclusive and supportive space, she said. Ms Davis, a Dunedin-based strategy consultant, is…

Hanmer Springs is gearing up for a busy summer season after a storm ripped through the town, forcing many popular walking tracks to close.Gusts of more than 200km/h swept through the Canterbury tourist area on October 23, uprooting trees, overturning irrigator pivots and uplifting roofs and fences.Popular trails like Alligator…

Pioneering Dunedin-founded business Oritain is expanding its scientific network through the phased acquisition of three leading European laboratories. The company, which uses forensic science to determine product provenance, invested in Agroisolab in Germany in 2023 and Advanced Isotopic Analysis (AiA) in France and Imprint Analytics in Austria this year. Co-founder…