Phil Pennington

The increasing number of applications for helipads on Aotea Great Barrier Island is causing alarm among locals. But the current rules mean they don't have to be notified or consulted about them. The… Audio

Māori on Aotea Great Barrier Island have told the Auckland Council to stop helipads being put in, and to start taking them seriously as kaitiaki.

But the council says the complete absence of sites of… Audio

Aotea Great Barrier Islanders fear they will go the same way as Waiheke Island with lots of helicopters buzzing their skies.

The isolated island has had five applications for helipads in five months… Audio

Newly released data shows a nationwide police operation to cut down on high-risk driving and road deaths has gone badly.

Most police districts missed most of their targets most of the time, reports… Audio

Firefighters are refusing to work on a firetruck that lost power to its big ladder while crew were battling a blaze last week that destroyed a Wellington house.

The critical equipment failed despite… Audio

New figures show one in seven Catholic clergy who work for a bishop have had abuse complaints laid against them.

The Catholic Church has for the first time publicly released the figures, which show… Audio

Excavation of contaminated soil begins shortly at a Ponsonby school a year after a fire spread asbestos around the neighbourhood.

The soil already had asbestos in it before the fire which destroyed… Audio

The police say they have fixed how they investigate fatal road crashes to make sure the fraught experience of two families in Otago is not repeated.

The families of Wayne Brenssell and Toby Waitokia… Audio

Police apologised for a crash investigator's 'lack of empathy and compassion' towards two widows ... but went on using him anyway.

They have also apologised for their 'narrow' and deficient work on… Audio

Oranga Tamariki failed to spend millions of dollars especially set aside to protect and help child victims of sexual violence.

Figures obtained by RNZ show it set aside $11 million but only spent $7… Audio

Firefighters have been struggling with equipment failures that are putting them at risk.

Fire and Emergency has an ageing fleet of big ladder trucks ladder hoses, pumps or controls leaked, and has… Audio

A change to a key part of the housing intensification bill has been enough to alarm supporters, but too little to placate critics.

The bill is up for debate at its second reading in Parliament on… Audio

Vital hospital building projects in Auckland are being delayed for months by questions over fire designs - and especially the safe evacuation of smoke-filled rooms.

Stroke, rehabilitation and baby… Audio

A review of firefighting at a big south Auckland warehouse blaze says asbestos floated up to 1km away.

It also shows 22 fire trucks were not decontaminated and may have carried hazardous asbestos… Audio

Developers have told MPs they do not want a housing density bill that gives them open slather across swathes of suburbia.

An iwi says the proposed legislation is a "disgrace".

Phil Pennington… Audio

Householders face losing over a billion dollars worth of sunlight and views under radical housing intensification law changes.

A government cost-benefit analysis puts these price tags on the plans to… Audio

A river of new demolition waste is expected to flow from a law change to allow at least three houses be built on one section.

The government is in the dark about just how much and is under fire over… Audio

A law change to allow three homes up to three storeys high on one existing section is stirring controversy as it is rushed through Parliament.

Some detractors are calling it ad hoc but others vital… Audio

More stories are emerging of new house buyers losing out to developers using sunset clauses or other devices against them.

This comes as the escalating price of land and cost of building materials… Audio