Craig Ashworth

South Taranaki's iwi and council have drawn up a new partnership agreement just as the new coalition government plans to take an axe to co-governance.

All of Taranaki's river swimming spots - and some lakes - have rated poorly for the risk of getting sick from a faecal bug in the latest report card on the region's water quality.

Kīngi Tūheitia will visit Parihaka Pā for the first time next week in a bid to strengthen historical and spiritual bonds between Taranaki and the Kīngitanga - and forge greater political unity.

Ngāruahine iwi is changing the way it spends and invests to bring more benefits back home to its whānau and the local area.

Ngaa Rauru is joining up with Taranaki Regional Council to search for "nature-based solutions" to flooding of the Waitōtara River catchment in the face of climate change.

The head of Te Punanga Ora says National's policies for changes to Māori health partnership boards would 'lock in' poorer health for whānau.

A National-led government would demote the Māori partnership boards which currently have a deciding say over regional health plans.

Waitara police have called for community help to tackle dirt bike riders buzzing the town and taunting police.

Members of Taranaki's eight iwi have voted to approve the redress deal for the confiscation of Taranaki Maunga negotiated with the Crown.

Māori health advocates are optimistic they will retain their new power in the public system even if the National wins October's election.

Parihaka trustees are optimistic no drilling for oil and gas will be allowed on the pā's historical land, despite silence from the Minister of Energy and Resources.

Iwi are making a final bid to get the negotiated redress for the confiscation of Taranaki maunga approved and in front of Parliament before the election.

The organiser of a series of talks about co-governance says he wants to dispel needless fears around the issue.

New Plymouth's racecourse has refused a bid from Stop Co-Governance to hold a meeting at the venue this weekend because of safety worries.

With just days left for Māori voters to change electoral rolls, Te Tai Hauāuru electorate has the second-highest rate of voters swapping to the Māori roll.

Hapū have been leading an overhaul of the reserve management plan, emphasising Māori values in the future of Paritūtū Centennial Park.

Hapū on the northern edge of Taranaki want the regional border shifted south of Mt Messenger so the area becomes part of Waikato region, saying it would better align with Māori boundaries.

Seabed mining should be banned in New Zealand as any economic benefits won't outweigh the effects of "environmental vandalism", South Taranaki District Council says.

Many applicants fell short of their hopes for a new fund to boost community grants for Māori in New Plymouth after scant council dollars were doled out evenly between bidders.

Several Ngāruahine hapū will be in the Court of Appeal with Greenpeace on Tuesday to seek tighter controls on a wind-powered hydrogen plant in South Taranaki.

New Plymouth councillors say they are the meat in the sandwich as they puzzle how to deal with a dispute between two iwi.

Onaero Bay campground bach owners have been invited to meet their local iwi after complaining they were ignored in planning for a revamp of the Taranaki beachfront reserve.

The iwi that owns a Taranaki beachfront campground reserve is backing a proposal to co-manage its land with the local council.

Co-governance of the 36,000-hectare park has been hammered out, and a deal over the future of the maunga will not end the need to involve iwi and hapū in running the national park.

A Parihaka kaumātua who patrols the Taranaki coast says it will take years to recover devastated marine ecosystems.