Stories by Katie Todd

Westport locals are describing a dire shortage of rental properties in their town, despite dozens of vacant houses and more than 100 rooms listed on Airbnb.

Frustration is growing among people stuck on surgery wait lists due to age or weight after DHBs were told to consider deferring non-urgent treatments.

Residents in the Auckland suburb of Remuera say they're being plagued by dead eels, sewage floating down streams and smells so pungent it makes them gag.

Canterbury District Health Board says damp and unchanged personal protective equipment was likely to blame for three of its healthcare workers getting Covid-19.

Customs seized 70 percent less methamphetamine and 60 percent less MDMA at the border in the first three months of this year, compared to last year.

Online donations for Christchurch's Orana Wildlife Park have topped $129,200, as it grapples to afford food, habitat maintenance, heating and vet bills during lockdown.

A man whose mother-in-law lives at Rosewood Rest Home and Hospital in Christchurch says he's been unable to find out if she was moved to Burwood Hospital.

The Earthquake Commission found it was poorly prepared for the Canterbury earthquakes and has left people with a "deep mistrust of government" that will take years to overcome, an inquiry has found.

Four staff and 12 residents from Rosewood Rest Home & Hospital in Christchurch have either tested positive for the virus or been identified as probable cases.

After finding out his shop would need to close during the lockdown, Pat O'Dea planned to put all his produce out on the street for people to take but was told he couldn't because of the health risk.

Police have not ruled out taking a tougher approach to clear out city hotspots where hundreds of people are going for their lockdown fresh air fixes. Audio

Legal experts say the Christchurch mosque shooter will "undoubtedly" spend life in prison - likely with no parole - and there's a chance his jail time could be served in Australia.

Rental agencies are getting tough on tenants with ideas about skipping their rent payments.

A mortgage holiday repayment scheme is welcomed by landlords, but hitting all the wrong notes with some renters who want more relief measures of their own. Audio

Pleas to "shop normally" appeared to go widely unheard in Christchurch yesterday, in the hours after yesterday's lockdown announcement.

At least two people who have tested positive for Covid-19 went to the Wanaka A&P show this month.

The South Island might still be free of confirmed cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus, but it has slowed the number of tourists visiting some hotspots to a trickle.

At least $21 million in donations has been handed to mosque attack victims and survivors, but some are still asking for help buying groceries.

Since the November 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, less than a third of Hurunui district's red-stickered buildings have been fixed or bowled.

A court has ruled Alan Dall's tiny house is a vehicle, not a building. Tiny house owners say the case means legislation needs to be rewritten.

Growers of industrial hemp say red tape is stopping industries from making the most of what many regard as a potential wonder crop.

Petals were cast into Christchurch's Avon River this afternoon, to mark nine years since the magnitude 6.2 Canterbury earthquake and to remember the 185 lives it claimed.

A ruptured water main caused the two-metre wide sinkhole to open up in Linwood this afternoon.

Researchers say councils need to be doing much more to ensure homes and buildings aren't wiped out when a mega-tsunami eventually strikes the east coast of the North Island.

Flood-hit residents have had emotional reunions with their four-legged friends - including a chatty cat named Shamonita Miss Inquisitive - after billeting them in special animal evacuation centres.