Chris Morris

The search for a helicopter, which went missing with two people on board near Invercargill yesterday in perfect conditions, was to resume at first light.

Newly-elected Dunedin city councillor Lee Vandervis has criticised Energy Safety for failing to fully investigate damage to an 11,000-volt power cable in Mosgiel.

Good progress towards completing the roof of the Forsyth Barr Stadium means the $198 million venue is "starting to feel like a stadium", Carisbrook Stadium Trust chairman Malcolm Farry said.

Southern mayors say they will unite to fight the economic pulling power of the emerging Auckland super city.

Incumbent councillor Colin Weatherall's seat on the Dunedin City Council is likely to be safe despite a strong challenge by Bev Butler, a University of Otago academic says.

The ousting of Peter Chin as Dunedin mayor "doesn't make sense", but is unlikely to affect progress towards completing Forsyth Barr Stadium, Carisbrook Stadium Trust chairman Malcolm Farry says.

The Dunedin City Council has engaged an independent internal auditor to help analyse another 25,000 transactions - totalling $4.3 million - made by council staff on ratepayer-funded credit cards over the past three years.

Five staff from the Dunedin City Council together received nearly $110,000 in severance payments during the past 12 months, council figures show.

Dunedin rugby fans could watch next year's Rugby World Cup final in 3D on a big screen at the Forsyth Barr Stadium, or from the comfort of a cinema seat.

Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin hopes history will be a kinder judge of the Dunedin City Council's achievements over the past three years than some of his outspoken critics.

Dunedin city councillors have backed plans to reopen John Wilson Ocean Dr to vehicles, despite a warning they might have to revisit the controversial debate again.

Rugby World Cup 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden yesterday delivered his most glowing endorsement of Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium.

Dunedin's Municipal Chambers building is a mass of broken concrete and bricks, steel beams and scaffolding, but is on schedule to be transformed once the dust settles, Dunedin City Council staff say.

A Dunedin woman who says her home is threatened by a slumping section of Glen Rd, near Carisbrook, is facing thousands of dollars in costs and says the Dunedin City Council should foot the bill.