Marlborough

The government was "highly unimpressed" with KiwiRail's ferry maintenance standards, Simeon Brown said earlier this week.

The man who dragged an 11-year-old into the toilets of the Blenheim train station has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

Hundreds of pieces of evidence point to Scott Watson as the murderer of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope, the Court of Appeal has been told.

The key witness in the case against Watson was manipulated to identify him as the man last seen with Ben Smart and Olivia Hope, the court has been told.

Picton's Interislander ferry terminal will be demolished later this month, after sitting unused for almost a year.

Plans to spend nearly $40 million upgrading marine infrastructure in the Marlborough Sounds have been labelled "unnecessary", while others are worried their area will miss out on improvements.

Holes have been drilled into Spring Creek's stopbanks in an attempt to understand why they cracked, with initial tests showing the cracks are at least a metre deep.

The weather was foggy and police have urged drivers to take extra care.

Jamie Arbuckle, the district councillor who became an MP but decided to keep getting paid for both roles, will instead donate one salary to charity.

It is designed to play an important role in supporting Marlborough to respond, recover and develop resilience to natural disasters and emergencies.

Jamie Arbuckle, a councillor who has become an member of parliament, says he has settled into having two roles so comfortably he's going to keep both pay cheques.

Marlborough District Council has told Spring Creek residents repairs to compromised Wairau River stopbanks are a top priority but the fix will cost $8.7 million and take three years to complete.

Those tasked with Marlborough's wheelie bin roll-out say they are confident that recycling is no longer going to end up going to landfill.

People are being warned not to collect or eat shellfish from Queen Charlotte Sound or part of Golden Bay after high levels of paralytic shellfish toxins were detected.

In his sentencing, Judge Garry Barkle said Pask's offending was "utterly destructive" to the victims and their families.

Spring Creek residents did not have to evacuate today as expected - but compromised stopbanks mean the community remains at risk during future storm events.

Emergency Management teams are ramping up ahead of a major weather system set to bring days of heavy rain and strong winds to parts of the country from Tuesday.