Rebecca Fox

Many of Otago's low-lying coastal communities are at risk from extensive inundation from storm events, a new report to the Otago Regional Council says.

Winter air pollution has exceeded national guidelines much earlier this year in Otago compared with 2007, mainly due to cool, calm climatic conditions, the Otago Regional Council says.

Surplus rainbow trout from Macraes hatchery have been released into reservoirs around Dunedin in the past week, providing a winter bonus for anglers.

Surplus rainbow trout from Macraes hatchery have been released into reservoirs around Dunedin in the past week, providing a winter bonus for anglers.

Dunedin man Rob Mitchell has been elected president of the Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand.

Rainfall in the southern hydroelectricity lake areas is "good news" even though it was not as much as first hoped, Raineffects hydrologist Dave Stewart says.

Otago recreational fishing representatives, still smarting from the Ministry of Fisheries decision to ban set netting along Otago's coast, have decided not to attend a shellfish management group meeting tonight.

More conclusive data is needed on the number of sea lion deaths during the squid fishing season in the Auckland Islands, even though a reduction in numbers has been estimated this season, the New Zealand Sea Lion Trust says.

A house which cost less than $350,000 to build has won the supreme award in the Southern region house of the year awards announced in Invercargill on Saturday.

"Basically crap" is the impression an Otago Regional Council water quality report gives of three of Dunedin City's significant waterways, Cr Michael Deaker says.

Otago regional councillors have voted 7-4 to financially back the Awatea St stadium in today's crunch meeting - removing the project's last political hurdle.

Insults and jeers hurled from a packed public gallery failed to deter seven Otago regional councillors from supporting the council's funding of the Awatea St stadium, although the decision came with conditions some think will be difficult to meet.

Money, education and consultation with industry have failed to achieve the environmental outcomes the council and community desire of dairy farms, Otago regional councillor Duncan Butcher says.

Two or three undecided Otago regional councillors appear to hold the fate of the Awatea St stadium in their hands as the council meets today to vote on funding the project.

Bus fares and compliance monitoring costs will go up if recommendations by the Otago Regional Council's hearing subcommittee are accepted by the council, but the general rate will go down.

They glide and wheel, riding effortlessly on the breeze over the wake behind the boat.

Demand for Central Otago rabbit meat has grown, with nearly 20 supermarkets around the country stocking Tarras Game Foods' products.

While the latest survey of clam beds at Waitati Inlet has shown they are sustainable, the Dunedin company harvesting the shellfish faces challenges from pollution and plans to develop Otago Harbour.