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Featured Local Democracy Reporting stories
Summer brings sense of 'home' for new migrants
About 800 new migrants from more than 45 countries have settled in Whangārei this year.
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Tourism business ‘extremely distressed’ by road closures
29 Dec 2025A Marlborough Sounds tourism operator says restricted access road closures is leaving them cut off from customers at the start of the peak summer season.
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The council that's proposing a 0% rates rise
29 Dec 2025Northland local government leaders are reacting cautiously to news of Te Tai Tokerau's proposed first rates freeze in a decade.
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Rotorua dreams of Warriors return after seven-year absence
28 Dec 2025The New Zealand Warriors have not played in Rotorua since 2020 - and won't in 2026 either.
Local Democracy Reporting headlines with summaries.
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What is Local Democracy Reporting?
31 May 2021Find out more about the scheme and how to become a host newsroom or accredited media partner.
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Bay of Plenty wallaby infestation: 2000 controlled this year
27 Dec 2025The Bay of Plenty Regional Council killed or contained more than 2000 wallabies as part of its pest control programme in 2024/25.
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Public urged to remain vigilant to hornets over summer
23 Dec 2025To date, there have been been reported sightings only in Auckland - with the discovery of queen hornets and nests in the Glenfield and Birkdale areas.
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Summer swimmers urged to check Rotorua water safety
26 Dec 2025Coastal and tidal waterways remain New Zealand's most deadly.
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The town that opened its doors to Polish refugee children
25 Dec 2025It's been eight decades since hundreds of children found a new home in Pahīatua during WWII.
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End of the line for Melling train station
26 Dec 2025The iconic station would close for about 36 months.
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'Miracle': Council workers' actions save great-grandmother's life
22 Dec 2025Sandra Bristowe, 78, had collapsed in her front garden and started "grabbing at her chest" and complaining of pain.
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Camera catches man damaging grave, police say it's not enough
19 Dec 2025A family is distraught that a mother's headstone has been repeatedly damaged.
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Community cheers as booze back on tap at hotel bar
19 Dec 2025A popular Wairarapa coastal watering hole is back in business.
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Rangatira Marae holds burial ceremony for taonga lost to Cyclone Gabrielle
18 Dec 2025Rangatira Marae was demolished this year after Cyclone Gabrielle devastated it in 2023.
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Condescending and costly: Advocates slam disability and ageing revamp
18 Dec 2025A plan to downgrade community input on disability and ageing issues in New Plymouth is tokenistic, condescending and would cost the district money, advocates say.
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Dargaville’s town hall replacement by 2028: Deputy mayor
18 Dec 2025Gordon Lambeth says he wants to see a replacement civic complex completed before the end of the current council term.
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Homeless shower options still being explored in Invercargill
18 Dec 2025A restroom alternative is still being worked through as the cost of the current set-up continues to bite.
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300 hours of work destroyed: Vandals leave Featherston’s Christmas tree in tatters
18 Dec 2025The tree, handmade by a local craft collective entirely from recycled materials, was found in tatters after it came down on Monday night.
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Hawke's Bay cities in level 3 water restrictions
16 Dec 2025Hastings and Napier water restrictions have been upgraded to Level 3, meaning sprinkler use is now banned.
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'Take a mask': The popular tourist toilets labelled an 'embarrassment'
15 Dec 2025Whakarewarewa toilets have been labelled an embarrassment, with new facilities planned soon.
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The marine species that have 'totally disappeared' from Marlborough Sounds
12 Dec 2025Of the four ecologically significant species monitored at 16 sites in Queen Charlotte Sound/Tōtaranui, only one remains.
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'Dead duck': Decision looms on contentious Auckland rubbish trial
12 Dec 2025Aucklanders will find out next week if a six month-trial to move the weekly kerbside rubbish collection to fortnightly will go ahead next year.
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'Nowhere near enough': A 780-tonne lake weed disaster
12 Dec 2025A funding battle is brewing over lake weed control in Rotorua as the three-week, 780-tonne clean-up of the latest stinky stranding in Lake Rotorua wraps up.
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'Sign of the times': Town's sports day winding up after 116 years
12 Dec 2025A sports event that has woven itself into the fabric of a small Southland town is wrapping up after more than a century.
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Could a design competition help a region in need of houses?
12 Dec 2025Concerns about the rate of intensification in Tasman are causing councillors to consider "creative" solutions on how to encourage uptake.
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Gardeners' close calls with traffic prompt flower bed shake-up
12 Dec 2025Rotorua council will replant high-risk city garden beds after a surge in near-miss incidents.
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"Gross misjudgment and disrespect': Deputy slams Napier mayor's failed committee move
12 Dec 2025Napier's Deputy Mayor Sally Crown said Mayor Richard McGrath's proposal to omit mana whenua from this term's committees had blindsided councillors.
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