Hamish MacLean

A freedom camping bylaw could mean only "certified self-contained'' camper vans are allowed to camp on council land in the Waitaki district.

For fans of Victorian-era science-fiction reimagined there is no place to be but New Zealand's Steampunk heartland this weekend.

The 104-year-old Craig Fountain, "a part of the heritage of Oamaru'', will probably return to the Oamaru Public Gardens, the council's recreation manager says.

The Waitaki District Council has renewed its relationship agreement with local iwi Waitaha; both sides signed the agreement on Friday.

Rebuilding Haven St, in Moeraki, was hailed as a community achievement unparalleled in New Zealand, but one of the key figures in the estimated equivalent $1million community-led reconstruction of the road, completed in November last year, says it has since been "neglected'' by the Waitaki District Council.

The impact of a 20% cut to hospital beds in Oamaru could be felt this winter.

A fire that burnt through an Oamaru house yesterday has left the owners "pretty devastated''.

A former New Zealand police detective sergeant with strong ties to Waitaki Boys' High School started the second term as the school's new hostel manager yesterday.

A former Oamaru man and his family were caught up in the raging wildfire in northern Alberta, Canada as tens of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes.

The Waitaki District Council will take possession of the mothballed historic Oamaru Courthouse on July 1, but it is not known when the earthquake-strengthening work it requires to reopen will start.

Once a hot issue, subdividing the 5.8ha Forrester Heights block overlooking Oamaru Harbour has drawn a "light''and largely positive survey response.

Kakanui residents' wishes could be second to those of freedom campers when a plan is made for a Waitaki freedom camping hotspot, an opponent to freedom camping at Campbells Bay fears.

Probably the largest conference ever held in Oamaru begins today.

About 40 meat workers are facing a longer than normal seasonal layoff as Oamaru Meats struggles to maintain beef numbers coming into the plant. 

A small Oamaru brewery has received high marks from Australian judges in a major international competition.

The Oamaru Performing Arts Society's 79th Annual Festival runs for three days at the Oamaru Opera House in Thames St, from yesterday until tomorrow.