Justin Wong

Wellington's metropolitan councils have approved the paperwork to hand over the region's water infrastructure and more than $1 billion of associated debt to their new water provider, Tiaki Wai.

A National MP claims her “liking” a social media comment criticising the money her Government has budgeted for defence spend was an acknowledgement, not an endorsement, of its contents.

Local Democracy Reporting The Wellington region's new water authority becoming a ratepayer — and paying almost $6 million in Porirua rates

Air Chathams is suspending the only direct flight from Auckland to the Kāpiti Coast, north of Wellington, from 31 July.

The now-closed Gibbes Watson conservatory in Lower Hutt is inching closer towards being demolished after the local Rotary Club failed to strike a deal with the Hutt City Council over its future.

Local Democracy Reporting Lower Hutt has been chosen to participate in an international climate project funded by the European Union (EU) to help vulnerable people respond to extreme climate risks.

Many Wellington commuters will soon be able to tap into tax-free bus fares by paying straight from their salary.

Kāpiti Coast councillors have dismissed a motion to review the local district council's climate emergency declaration, amid objections from public speakers including a former mayor about the proposal.

Although government‑led reforms are needed, local authorities are the ones left to explain them to the public — and they remain the primary source of inefficiencies and wasted work in councils, says Upper Hutt's mayor.

Lower Hutt mayor Fauono Ken Laban has thrown down a challenge to those campaigning against Tiaki Wai's takeover of the region's water services next month: come up with a better alternative.