Stories by Lauren Crimp

Applause greeted a council decision not to charge owners for demolition of cyclone-wrecked homes.

A year after Cyclone Gabrielle smashed through Hawke's Bay civil defence controller Ian Macdonald talked to RNZ's Hawke's Bay reporter about the biggest emergency response of his career.

Hundreds of whānau in the town remain displaced and their homes are still in ruins.

They're still displaced. Some might consider themselves displaced forever, unable to return to their true homes.

Hawke's Bay and East Coast councils say they can't afford to fix the cyclone-damaged roading networks in their regions.

An Appreciation Day in Hastings for Cyclone Gabrielle volunteers heard countless stories of ordinary people who did extraordinary things.

The flood-ravaged town of Wairoa is just weeks away from a decision on how the town will be protected from being inundated yet again.

Those still in the thick of the long slog cleaning up silt left by Cyclone Gabrielle are breathing a sigh of relief that more help is on the way.

On the anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle, thousands of people will wake up in marae, at friends' houses, in campervans and cabins. But not at home.

A colony of long-tailed bats have been found roosting in a farm shed roof in Central Hawke's Bay. But a conservationist says they're likely roosting all over the region.

Why an army of red heads gathered on Thursday night. Audio

One resident said they had nothing left to give. Another said their community had been blindsided.

As the anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle approaches, affected residents in Hawke's Bay are being offered free counselling sessions to help them deal with the fallout.

Residents in parts of Tairāwhiti fear a future on their land is in jeopardy with silt dust making the place unliveable.

After a desperate public plea, precious religious garments stolen from a Wellington church have been returned - complete with an apology note.

A Napier woman whose barking dogs have been driving her neighbours mad maintains they are not a nuisance - despite fresh council orders to get them under control.

A church in Wellington is reeling from the theft of precious religious garments from its temple.

A painting thought to have been lost forever has been returned a year after being ripped from its Hawke's Bay home .

The test results confirmed it was consistent with a discharge of animal byproducts, and aligned with a discharge from the council wastewater treatment plant.

There's been a surge in the number of pupils being stood down for vaping or smoking.

Business is "off the charts" for a water tank manufacturer as Wellington runs low on water this summer.

There is "extreme concern" about the risk of fires on the east coast of the South Island this weekend, Fire and Emergency says.

After reports in past summers of inappropriate toileting and camping in banned areas, councils in tourist hotspots say the season has been a success so far.

People waited hours in the hot sun to purchase discounted 200-litre water tanks at the southern landfill's Tip Shop on Tuesday in Wellington.

A shearing champion says stubbornness and determination to prove critics wrong saw her crack a world record on Sunday.