Chris Morris

Further changes at the Dunedin Chinese Garden should be delayed for two years because visitor numbers and revenue are already ''tracking upwards'', outgoing garden manager Margo Reid says.

Building a rock breakwater at Te Rauone Beach would not completely protect the area from erosion and would ''not be the best value'', Dunedin city councillors have been warned.

A Queenstown climber involved in a dramatic Himalayan rescue says his injured companion remains in a Kathmandu hospital but could be released within days.

Decisions on two proposed subdivisions at Outram - which together could add more than 50 homes to the town - could be months away yet, Dunedin City Council staff say.

Dunedin could be missing out on millions of dollars each year because it is not doing enough to cater for cycling tourism, a cycling advocacy group says.

Dunedin city councillors have questioned whether a public referendum might be needed to decide the future of the city's fluoridated water supply, after dozens of submissions calling for an end to the practice.

A Queenstown climber's heroic actions are being hailed after he saved a climbing companion knocked unconscious by an avalanche high up a Himalayan mountain.

A failed boiler has only added to costs faced by the Dunedin Gasworks Museum Trust, which needs $1 million a year to ensure the museum's survival, board members say.

The Dunedin Film Festival could be lost if the Otago Theatre Trust - which runs the Regent Theatre - is left to cover rising compliance costs without help from the Dunedin City Council, councillors have heard.

The Dunedin City Council will have to juggle tight budgets and pleas for extra spending - including calls for progress on an $18 million Mosgiel pool - when the latest budget meeting begins this week.

The Dalai Lama will receive an official welcome from the Dunedin City Council after all, Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull has confirmed.