Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC) was granted a five-year consent to extract 1,070,000cu m of gravel from the Shotover delta within an area 300-500m wide and 1590m long on the true left side of the river.
Otago regional councillors will consider at a meeting tomorrow whether to review the council's representation in time for elections next year.
The Otago Regional Council's first payment towards the Forsyth Barr Stadium will come from its reserves, as its borrowing arrangements have not yet been finalised.
Water users are calling for more monitoring of Otago waterways proposed for minimum flows in a water plan change.
The death of Te Papa chief executive Seddon Bennington and his tramping partner has "staggered" the Dunedin museum community.
Concerns about maintaining recreational access and the wildlife experience in the Mt Aspiring National Park have been raised at the start of hearings on the park's draft management plan.
New Zealand's small native birds will soon be able to be tracked, thanks to tiny devices being developed at the University of Otago physics department.
An increase in the amount of flatfish that can be caught off the east and south coast of the South Island is estimated to be worth about $1.8 million to the commercial fishing industry.
A range of ideas for the future of public conservation lands and waters - from compensating landowners for protecting biodiversity to giving iwi title to specific parks - has been advanced at a public symposium.
Orokonui Ecosanctuary's kaka chick has taken to the treetops and while it still has some wobbly landings, it is growing up fast and needs a name.
Two southern fishermen are being taken to court by the Ministry of Fisheries for not allowing observers on board their boats last summer.
The more New Zealanders understand the economic stake they have in conservation, the more solid the future is likely to be, Conservation Minister Tim Groser says.
Otago Museum's newest exhibition, West Africa: Rhythm and Spirit, opens this Saturday.
Marian van der Goes has been appointed the Department of Conservation's new conservator for Otago, becoming only the second woman in New Zealand to hold the conservator's role.
Dunedin has again broken its own weather records - but last month, rather than being too wet, as it was in May, was too dry, making Dunedin the coldest and driest of New Zealand's six main centres.
Farmers fear the Otago Regional Council's underlying motive for water plan changes could be to reduce their water takes, immediate past president of North Otago Federated Farmers Robert Borst says.
With rat populations about to "explode" in Otago's beech forests, which are home to threatened bird and bat species, the Department of Conservation is spending about $260,000 on two aerial 1080 poisoning programmes.
Concerns legal uncertainty over the continuation of water race licences could result in major disruption to Central Otago's water distribution has led the Otago Regional Council to look to the courts for clarification.
Swine flu has arrived in the South, with three cases being confirmed in Dunedin.
An 80-year-old Dunedin Public Library practice of charging 50c for magazine and genre fiction will end on June 30.
