The Waitaki District Council's effort to curb the effect of rising visitor numbers is working, council regulatory services manager Lichelle Guyan says.
Residential care beds in Oamaru are at capacity and Oamaru Hospital has warned families could be faced with having to decide where outside the community to send relatives.
All the talk is about how Oamaru has changed in recent years, but for some daily life in the North Otago town is much the same as it has been for years. Hamish MacLean talks to a North Oamaru stalwart.
Whitestone Contracting Ltd staff continued work this week on the Friendly Bay Railway Bridge Restoration Trust's $250,000 learn-to-ride bike park in Oamaru.
Health and safety, and penguin welfare concerns should not be used to prevent public access to the breakwater and its adjacent beach, a man who helped to start the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony says.
Growing crowds on Oamaru's breakwater at dusk are becoming ''increasingly dangerous and disrespectful'' as they watch penguins come ashore, Tourism Waitaki general manager Jason Gaskill says.
With a mere six days of rehearsals, the talent at Waitaki's national music camp consistently puts together a "wonderful concert'', Whitestone Community Arts Council spokeswoman Bronwyn Judge says.
Rabbits and thistles running rampant over Katiki Point, in North Otago, are symptomatic of larger problems in the area, the chairman of the runanga that manages the land says.
The changes under way at the Otematata Lakes Hotel will bring Otematata ''up from the dark ages'' for visitors, Otematata Eatery, Bar and Lodge owner Brent Cowles says.
The stalled redevelopment of Oamaru's recycling centre should get the go-ahead early this year, Waitaki Resource Recovery Trust manager Dave Clare says.
Farmers waiting for irrigation water as the North Otago Irrigation Company (NOIC) expands its reach down the Kakanui Valley should not rely on the updated works programme for a completion date for the project, the company has warned.
A conservation advocate wants to know "who’s in charge" after the Waitaki District Council appeared to change tack from its original plans and potentially delayed foreshore protection at Oamaru’s waterfront.