Rural

Farms turn into deserts, drought conditions worsen

Lush farms are turning into deserts as drought conditions worsen and farmers struggle to grow grass. A drought has been declared in the Northland, Waikato,... Read More

Connecting Whakamārama and Ōmokoroa communities

Are you curious about what's happening in the forests, reserves, and coastal areas around Whakamārama and Ōmokoroa? A new EWOC - Environmental Whakamārama... Read More

Western Bay community boards fight merger proposal

Western Bay community boards have hit back at a proposal to merge, with one saying it would be 'eroding a democracy”. At an appeal hearing on Thursday... Read More

Fish & Game New Zealand game bird licences on sale

Fish & Game has announced that game bird hunting licences for the 2025 season are now on sale. With the season fast approaching with Opening Day on May 3,... Read More

Te Puke growers win Supreme Farm Award

Te Puke kiwifruit growers Blair Dyer and Steve Atkinson have won the Regional Supreme Award at the Bay of Plenty Ballance Farm Environment Awards in Tauranga. Blair... Read More

Zespri’s Kiwifruit charter departs for China

Zespri's first charter shipment of the 2025 New Zealand kiwifruit season has set sail from Tauranga bound for Shanghai. The vessel, Kowhai - which was named... Read More

Hunters urged to play it safe during Roar

NZ Mountain Safety Council is reminding hunters to 'have a hmmm” and make careful route choices to stay safe, as this year's Roar hunting season kicks... Read More

Te Puna fire destroys man's home and classic cars

Harry Horman was in tears describing the devastation of a mystery fire that destroyed his caravan and all but one of his nine classic cars. Horman, a classic... Read More

Explosions heard: Minden blaze under investigation

Witnesses to the fire in Minden say it was a like an apocalyptic scene with clouds of billowing smoke and a sound of 'a couple of explosions”. Emergency... Read More

Multiple crews attending Minden garage fire

Firefighters from Tauranga and the surrounding area are responding to a large garage fire on a Minden property in western Bay of Plenty. A nearby resident... Read More

City and Regional Deals – opportunity for growth

The Government's City and Regional Deals initiative has received a great response from regions across New Zealand, and is now into the assessment stage... Read More

Horses for courses at Ōropi

It's the horses that do the teaching at Ōropi's Equine Dynamics. Inspired by the experience of her own battle with anxiety and depression, Leanne Benjamin... Read More