Local Government

Wellington city councillors are being locked out of office staff areas after allegations of one councillor riffling through papers, and another giving staff a hard time.

A critic of the country's first proposed community windfarm says it's a political statement at the community's expense.

Commissioners running the Kaipara District Council have appointed a new chief executive as the council prepares to hold its first elections in six years.

Two Auckland mayoral candidates are not happy at being invited and then excluded from an election event being organised by a ratepayer-funded business group.

The Māori trustees of Porotī Springs near Whangarei say the local council should never again issue a consent for a water-bottling plant over the road.

Nails found scattered along a controversial cycleway might have been planted by someone against the project, but it won't stop cyclists using it, a campaigner says.

Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel has announced she will stand for a second term, after previously saying she was uncertain if she would run again. Video

The decision to can an online-voting trial for this year's local body elections is a huge disappointment, says the head of an election management company.

Online voting at this year's local government elections won't go ahead due to uncertainties around how secure it would be. Audio

Local Government Minister Sam Lotu-liga will not step in to stop a possible reform of the Auckland super city, but is planning a new law to change the process, he says. Audio

An elderly man attacked by an American bulldog in Kaikohe is calling on the council to do something about vicious dogs in the town.

Less than six years into the life of the country's biggest local body, Aucklanders are being asked for new ideas on the way the city is governed.

An independent review of the capital's cycleway plans will push councillors to make a stand on support for cycling, Wellington's transport chair says.

The government plans to nationalise the rules for using 1080 poison and other pest control methods.

The transport minister is offering Wellington the chance to examine its remaining cycleway plans and ask locals if they want them.

Christchurch city councillor Glenn Livingstone could stand for mayor if Lianne Dalziel decides not to seek a second term, he says.

The pitbull that mauled a young boy's face last week has been put down as calls for stronger dog regulations continue.

South Auckland residents are split on what's needed to stop dog attacks, after what is thought to be the fourth mauling of a child in four months. Audio

With Porirua's mayor Nick Leggett now in the Wellington mayoral race, RNZ news checked in with the other candidates to find out what they thought of it.

A balcony collapse that injured 18 people at a street concert in Dunedin was caused by overloading, an independent report has found. Audio