The Queenstown urban design panel's support for a reinforced concrete bridge over the Kawarau River has been described as "palaver" by Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden, who said yesterday she did not want to spend any more money seeking the panel's opinion.
Two fires that burned reserves last week are being investigated by the Department of Conservation.
Dozens of firefighters converged on the Department of Conservation's Craig Burn reserve beside Lake Hawea and Glen Dene Station late yesterday afternoon to battle a big rural burn.
A group of Hawea Flat residents do not feel reassured with water-quality information provided by the Otago Regional Council at a public meeting on Sunday and have decided to target the Queenstown Lakes District Council as well.
No words were spoken as 30 rugby-mad Irish cyclists struggled up Haast Pass from the west in torrential rain on Saturday.
The Albert Town Tavern has replaced its $120,000 synthetic ice rink, regarded as a "wasting asset", with a garden bar, but the new facility cannot be used until resource consent has been granted.
Hawea Flat residents want the Hawea aquifer to be declared a drinking water protection zone, but Otago Regional Council director of environmental information and science John Threlfall says tighter water quality rules in a proposed water plan change "may well do the same thing" within the same timeframe.
A skier plunges backwards off a jump, rolls upside down twice and spins three times, then lands and gracefully glides off another jump into yet another aerial roll - or maybe splats in a puff of snow, legs akimbo, skis scattered far and wide.
Designs have been revealed for a new, two-level commercial building on a high-profile corner site at 93 Ardmore St, next to Bullock Creek.
There was no pressing need to build the proposed two-lane bridge at the Gates of Haast on State Highway 6, New Zealand Transport Agency West Coast regional state highways manager Colin Knaggs said yesterday.
Hawea Flat campaign group Preserve Our Water (POW) is continuing to lobby the Otago Regional Council to guarantee the quality of drinking water and rivers, and will hold a public meeting with the council later this month.
A petition seeking a review of the lower Ardmore St speed humps attracted 100 signatures just 24 hours after it was launched.
Black Labradors Rua and Ra are the most advanced avalanche search dogs in the country - and that is not just their proud owner, Anna Easthope, talking.
Lake Hawea Hotel chef Rene Weisswange (25) was remembered yesterday as a cheeky and mischievous young man who will be deeply missed by his family in Germany.
The district's Shaping our Futures forum series moved to Hawea Flat on Wednesday night, where bantering residents enjoyed suggesting ways to protect the environment from people.
Ageing heritage trees are being pruned this week in a project aimed at protecting Wanaka's historic "avenue of trees" on Mt Aspiring Rd.
The Lake Hawea community will hold a memorial ceremony and whaka noa (a Maori blessing) at 11am today for missing German kayaker Rene Weisswange (25), who is presumed drowned.
Changeable snow conditions challenged search and rescue dogs and their handlers taking part in the annual LandSAR avalanche assessment camp at the Snow Farm at the weekend.
Several years of preparation and planning is nearing an end for Wanaka adventurer Mal Haskins, who leaves today for Nepal for a world-first speedflying attempt down an 8000m Himalayan mountain peak, Manaslu.
A group of Hawea Flat residents has launched a campaign to protect their bore drinking water supply from the threat of dairy farm effluent.
