Stories by Lois Williams

It was once a thriving town where almost everyone had a steady job.

Local Māori and conservationists have claimed the right to access a Northland river today - by driving though the middle of a working dairy farm.

The land around the pipeline break was dug over two to three years ago, neighbours say.

Crews have been working around the clock for four days to fix the ruptured major fuel pipeline - but the repair job is too hazardous to be rushed, Refining NZ says.

Northland ratepayers should not have to foot the bill for an appeal against a High Court decision over unlawful rates, a former Far North politician says.

The new owners of a Far North campground have pulled out of an agreement to lease a beachfront reserve, after a peaceful protest by locals.

The tussle for Te Tai Tokerau this election has two old rivals shaping up for the seat: Mana's Hone Harawira versus Labour's Kelvin Davis.

A pupil with a cleft palate has finally been approved for help with speech therapy - but only after his mother and the school went public, a Northland principal says.

Peace appears to have broken out at a hui in Northland aimed at mending the rifts caused by the Ngāpuhi mandate row.

A Northland District Court judge is finding about 90 percent of the cases he hears involve drug addiction, he says.

Diving pioneer and environmentalist Wade Doak is backing calls for a high-tech survey of the wreck of the Niagara, off Northland's east coast.

Conservationists and salvage experts say it risks an oil spill four times worse than the Rena, but Maritime New Zealand is unconvinced.

Locals are planting 20,000 native trees this winter to stop sediment reaching the stricken harbour and harming its kaimoana.

The neighbour of a Whangarei woman who lay dead in her bedsit - possibly for weeks - says authorities need to explain why no-one knew. Audio

Northland conservationists who oppose the export of swamp kauri are heading back to court for another round with officials.

The district council is facing strong opposition over its one-dog-per-household proposal to protect threatened native birds.

The Ngāpuhi mandate authority kicks off a new series of hui around the north today to seek feedback on its stalled Treaty settlement.

Hapū near Whangarei say they have run out of steam to oppose plans for a water-bottling operation at Poroti Springs, but remain adamant they don't want it.

The latest plan for bigger and better highways in the region has road advocates cheering but rail enthusiasts dismayed.

A new $44m push to clean up New Zealand's waterways fails to address nitrate seeping off farms, according to a leading freshwater scientist. Audio

The Ministry of Health, not the ratepayers, should be bankrolling Northland's rescue helicopter service, a Far North regional councillor says.

The Northland Regional Council has offered to lend nearly $10 million to replace the region's ageing rescue helicopters, but the deal needs ratepayers' approval.

A luxury resort's plan to take up to 60,000 litres of water a day from a local creek to irrigate its lawns has angered a nearby landowner and local Māori.

Heavy rain overnight has left roads like rivers, trapping customers in a dairy and closing a number of schools.

In the Ngāpuhi mandate dispute - the hapū alliance Te Kotahitanga has rejected an invitation to meet the opposition, Tūhoronuku, as long as it is led by Sonny Tau.