Hamish MacLean

A small village sprang up at Willow Park, Papakaio, on Saturday.

And then there were none.

After heavy rain hit Oamaru in November little penguins abandoned their nests, but fears of a repeat of the "disastrous" 2015 season have not materialised.

The fourth addition to the Waitaki District Council's harbour area committee should have links to Oamaru Harbour as well as a commercial background, Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher says.

Redeveloping Oamaru's dog pound is set to cost nearly double last year's estimate because of upgrades proposed for the facility.

Timber from the 100-year-old Memorial Oak removed from Severn St at the start of March will be stored for a future project in the Oamaru Public Gardens.

Satellite tracking could show whether rehabilitating "the world's least-known, most enigmatic penguin species" while they are moulting has an effect on their behaviour when they return to sea.

Public access to Oamaru’s Heritage New Zealand category 1 1872 breakwater will be reinstated this month, the Waitaki District Council says.

The Terra Nova Challenge Trophy will be contested for the seventh time in North Otago today.

A "commercially focused representative" could be a fourth addition to the Waitaki District Council's harbour area committee as a draft master plan for Oamaru Harbour is drawn up this autumn.

Alps 2 Ocean Ultra race director Mike Sandri, of Oamaru, gave out 98 hugs at the finish line at Oamaru Harbour on Saturday.

Fiona Farrell's central character in Limestone, Clare Lacey, was "born in limestone country".

Despite a lower-than-anticipated rates rise in the coming year, the Waitaki District Council will consult the community on its 2018-19 annual plan.

Tyne St residents yesterday received notice nine sycamore trees at the entrance to Oamaru Harbour would be felled, as work to realign a stormwater pipe begins next week.

A little penguin (left) returns from sea and checks out a subantarctic visitor - an erect-crested penguin - at the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony.