Stories by Lois Williams

West Coast communities who rely on coal to heat their homes will suffer if tougher government rules for air quality go ahead, the regional council says.

Running out of food during the Covid-19 lockdown was the reason most Coasters called the Civil Defence hotline for help, it has emerged.

Hokitika township must start planning to move back from the coast, West Coast councillor Stuart Challenger says.

In 2017, a scientist advised removing a West Coast beachfront car park, saying it was making erosion worse. He was ignored, and then storms washed it away.

Kaikōura's district council is being urged to get real about recycling with a warning it could actually be encouraging waste.

Climate change caused by human activity, sea-level rise and the need to prepare for it - it is all a load of hogwash, the chairman of the West Coast Regional Council says.

The West Coast District Health Board has gone further into the red this month, to fund its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Minister for Regional Economic Development Shane Jones has told West Coast councils that DOC stewardship land will be open for business if New Zealand First has any say in it after the election.

The Department of Conservation has admitted it got it wrong when it allowed contractors to blast a rock overhang on the Truman Track at Punakaiki last year.

It is exactly one month today since the West Coast recorded its last case of Covid-19, but health authorities say random testing for the virus will continue for some time.

The government's Covid-19 stimulus package could deliver more than 200 jobs and secure Buller's economic future, according to its mayor.

The West Coast Regional Council has ditched rates rise plans but agreed to borrow up to $750,000 to get through the Covid-19 downturn.

The West Coast Regional Council has reversed its controversial vote against a wetlands plan years in the making.

Kaikōura District Council should not be even thinking about a rate increase unless it is prepared to cut spending and wages, its works and services chairperson says.

The West Coast Regional Council may challenge the legality of labelling Maori reserves as wetlands or significant natural areas.

West Coast districts will eventually have one plan to rule them all - but they could still end up with very different rules for Airbnbs.

Buller District Council is taking its annual plan to the people this winter to ensure Covid-19 restrictions don't defeat democracy.

Covid-19 and its financial fallout has forced a rapid rethink of the Grey District Council annual plan.

The West Coast Regional Council may borrow money to avoid a rate rise this year, its chief executive says.

Community groups tasked with setting goals for water quality have had to stop work for the duration of the Covid-19 lockdown.

The West Coast Tai Poutini Conservation Board is bringing in a facilitator to help resolve a stand-off with its Māori members.

The Nature Heritage Fund's $6m budget needs a boost if it's to be used to buy up wetlands on private property, West Coast Regional Council's CEO says.

The West Coast will have its new base hospital finished next month and open by August, officials confirmed today.

West Coast District Health Board is taking a hand in the ordering of influenza vaccine around the region in an effort to improve supplies.

Local councils are trimming their budgets but stopping short of a rates freeze due to Covid-19.