Dunedin Hospital has been forced to shut down beds due to a lack of nursing staff, but Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora says the move is not connected with a "recruitment freeze".
Staff at businesses on a busy South Dunedin street say the removal of all-day parking spots has forced them to battle it out for free spots in the surrounding area while new 60-minute parks sit empty.
Fewer than 100 yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho) chicks are expected to fledge from the mainland this year - and conservationists warn within a few years the population could be too small to reproduce.