Hamish MacLean

With building consent activity at a five-year high, Waitaki District Council officers could save up to 440 hours a year by a proposed ''discretionary exemption'' for building consents for pole sheds.

A trio from Russia and the Czech Republic planning a multi-million dollar "retreat" have been searching Otago, saying the region's remote pastoral landscape could provide the perfect escape from city life.

Ten jobs will be created and up to 50 commercial pilot trainees will be in the Waitaki district as an international flight school is created at Oamaru Airport, the Waitaki District Council says.

The same technique used by University of Otago Prof Neil Gemmell to investigate the truth about the Loch Ness monster has been put to use to learn about the behaviour and diet of NZ's first human inhabitants.

A Dunedin company is eyeing Oamaru’s resource recovery park as a possible solution to a growing plastics problem.