Debbie Porteous

A private Auckland firm processed a batch of building consents for the Dunedin City Council this month to help clear a backlog built up over several months.

A maori kaumatua has expressed his aversion to the use of the word "Toitu" either preceding or placed above the main title of the Otago Settlers Museum.

Up to 500 Dunedin properties could be made warmer in the next 12 months, if a new scheme initiated by the Dunedin City Council attracts enough takers.

A 4.9% rates increase was confirmed at a Dunedin City Council meeting yesterday.

It could be Christmas before John Wilson Ocean Dr is open to traffic again - and that might be wishful thinking.

An email from Cr Lee Vandervis attacking fellow city councillor Colin Weatherall for not attending a community board meeting at the time he was in hospital recovering from major surgery has not yet attracted any formal conduct complaints, although Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull says there could still be some.

When the Otago Settlers Museum reopens its doors this year after a $40 million redevelopment, it is likely to be under the new name Toitu: Otago Settlers Museum.

City councillors have delayed a decision on extending a liquor ban to Dunedin's student area while they try to get buy-in from students and look at a broader action plan to tackle the damage caused by alcohol in the city.

Dunedin city councillors are recommending all portable advertising signs and possibly all displays of goods be banned from city footpaths.

A search and rescue operation on hills near Dunedin on Saturday ended with the arrest of the search subject.

All future retail enterprises in Dunedin, with very few exceptions, are likely to be encouraged into existing central city or suburban retail centres under the city's new spatial plan.

The upgrade of Dunedin's wastewater treatment plant at Tahuna may be running behind the original schedule by a few months, but it will be delivered on budget, city councillors were told yesterday.

Written apologies from Cr Lee Vandervis following an email he sent fellow councillor Colin Weatherall and his son have resolved an issue that might otherwise have resulted in a formal complaint.