Podcasts about local councils

Hidden among the bustle of modern day of Tauranga lies one of Aotearoa's most significant heritage sites, The Elms Te Papa Tauranga The site has borne witness to more than 600 years of our often-turbulent history. A new book 'The Spirit of a Place' traces this legacy starting with the arrival of the first Polynesian voyaging canoes, the arrival of Pakeha, to the complex interactions that followed. Author Sarah Ell joins Jesse in studio.

Auckland's tourism sector is embracing Māori and Pasifika culture as the city's cultural agency, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, aims to build a more distinct international brand for the city. Felix Walton has more.

The Maritime Union says the Auckland's new Tripartite Accord is a starting point to improve communication between the Council, the port, and its workers. Maritime Union Secretary Grant Williams spoke to Corin Dann.

In the battle against Queenstown's exploding rabbit population, a team of trained ferrets is leading the charge. Jim Curry and Jacqui Elson believe in the power of using pests, to fight pests. Katie Todd has more.

The Panel talks to safety campaigner Geoff Upson who says there are too many speed humps in Manuwera and the town risks being known as "hump town". They then pay homage to the national treasure that is the Taranaki Star. The community newspaper delivers its last print edition today after 145 years of service - we talk to Cliff Hunt who worked at the paper for 47 years.

The Government's keeping tabs on how much councils are spending and where the money's going. Yearly performance metrics are out for each council, showing rates rises, revenue, debt levels, expenditure, and whether the budget's balanced. Monitoring comes as the Government considers a rates cap. Horowhenua mayor Bernie Wanden says successive years of underfunding and borrowing has contributed to the region's notable debt levels. "Obviously, there will be nuances and context that will not be able to be read into the figures. I think, give it a bit of time, we'll get used to this and the tables could provide some useful information." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aucklanders are being warned not to go onto beaches or into the water, as the country remains under a tsunami advisory. Auckland Emergency Management General Manager Adam Maggs spoke to Corin Dann.

Local body elections will be held in October, but most Regional Councils don't have enough candidates for a contest. New Zealand's longest serving regional council Chair Doug Leeder spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

An agreement between Taupo councillors and local iwi Ngāti Tūwharetoa has caused controversy after one of the councillors called in lobby group Hobson Pledge to raise concerns with a wider audience. Maori News Journalist Pokere Paewai spoke to Corin Dann.

Flooding and road closures have cut off access between Whakatane and Opotiki, causing major disruption. Whakatane District Council local duty controller Nicholas Woodley spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

All the rain hammering the North Island for the past months has filled Auckland's water supply dams to 100 percent, the first time since 2023. Watercare head of water Sharon Danks spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

The Bay of Plenty has been one of the heaviest hit by the latest band of wet and wild weather. Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Duty Controller Nassah Rolleston-Steed spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Auckland councillors are calling on the government to take action over the growing homelessness problem in the city. Associate Minister for Housing Tama Potaka spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

An expansion of paid parking around Tauranga's city centre has been met with outrage by residents. Liam Jackson, who lives near the CBD, revealed he would have to pay $10 a day to park outside his Park St home from August 4 after the council decided to expand paid parking to the city centre fringe. He joined the Afternoons team to discuss further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is growing discontent in Rotorua about the state of the Ohau channel diversion wall which is meant to protect the pristine waters of Lake Rotoiti. Libby Kirkby-McLeod reports.

Woodend residents north of Christchurch are being encouraged to re-imagine what their town centre will look like after State Highway no longer cuts through their town next year. Woodend-Sefton Community Board deputy chair Mark Paterson spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

A push to stop helicopters from landing or taking off in Auckland suburbs has become ensnared in a web of bureaucracy. Felix Walton reports.

Auckland councillors have kicked for touch on the issue of helicopters in residential areas. Councillors Mike Lee and Richard Hills spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

In today's episode, the government has introduced legislation that would require people to enrol to vote or update their details before advance voting begins; Auckland councillors have kicked for touch on the issue of helicopters in residential areas; Nearly half of the New Zealanders applying for Australian citizenship weren't born here; A farm in Dannevirke has lost more than $60,000 worth of stock to cattle rustlers; We have our weekly political pane; Kerry-Anne Walsh gives us the latest from across the Tasman.

Auckland councillors will debate a move to ban private use of helicopters in residential areas. Victor Waters explains.

Councillors will today debate the private use of helicopters in residential areas, following an Environment Court challenge to Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams' approval to build a helipad at their Westmere home. Whau Ward Councillor Kerrin Leoni spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

The government is considering options to control rate rises, including placing a cap on how much local councils can increase rates. Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe and Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Auckland's predicted rapid growth, and all the implications that come with that, has been set out in a pre local government election report from the council's Chief Executive, Phil Wilson. 

New Plymouth ratepayers are getting a cash-back of around $100 per household, after a rates blunder. New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Legislation aimed at getting local councils to keep their costs down has passed its first reading coinciding with this year's Local Government conference in Christchurch. Political reporter Russell Palmer has the story.

Senior Cabinet Minister Chris Bishop has launched a broadside at local government at a conference in Otautahi-Christchurch.The RMA Reform and Infrastructure Minister has said councils are crying out for more from central government, but have stood in the way of growth and been unwilling to cut their own cloth, and New Zealanders are noticing. At the Local Government New Zealand opening day, Chris Bishop also announced the government is halting what it says is pointless council planning work ahead of its major shake-up of resource management laws. Otautahi reporter Timothy Brown was at the conference spoke to Melissa Chan-Green.

A Rotorua organisation providing sleeping pods for the city's homeless says they're being held back by council insisting that they get consents. The Village of Hope has been set up in a secret location by the group Love Soup, which says it's an effort to give the city's homeless somewhere safe to sleep and to move them away from CBD shop fronts. Rotorua has been grappling with a large homeless population in recent years, and last month a large number of homeless people were trespassed from a makeshift camp in the CBD. It also comes as a controversial programme that uses the city's motels as emergency housing is phased out. Julie King from Love Soup spoke to Melissa Chan-Green.

Christchurch's mayor has told his councillors that hospital workers are sleeping in their cars just so they can get a car park. Nurses Organisation delegate at Christchurch Hospital Gayl Marryatt spoke to Corin Dann.

The head of a local Government lobby group has raised concerns about the Government's newest bill aimed at local councils. An amendment bill being moved through Parliament would require councils financially prioritise its core services. The Government wants councils to give more value to ratepayers. Local Government New Zealand President Sam Broughton says many people and councils want lower rates, but he's unsure if capping rates is the way to go. "Lower rates increases has got to be the aim, whether a rates cap is the right way to go about it - and compromises will need to be made to get us there - it's up for debate." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's youngest ever mayor intends to seek a second term. Reporter Timothy Brown has more.

The Government's introduced a bill today to get local Government back focused on the basics. But the fact they've strayed so far from potholes, rubbish and waste water is as much our fault as the councillors and mayors running the budgets. The Government's bill contains the wildly controversial stuff like: "Prioritising core services when managing finances and setting rates." And "new financial performance measures for councils, with a requirement for regular public reporting." How scandalous. Honestly. We shouldn't need central Government to spend time and money clarifying such simple principles to their local Government counterparts, but it's 2025, and here we are. We shouldn't need a bill to stop wasteful spending. We just need more Andrew Tripes. He's the Whanganui mayor overseeing a 2.2 percent rate increase this year. Much less than the average 8.7 percent across the country. He went on RNZ this morning and basically said it how it really is. If you want low rates, spend less, save money, have a plan. And stick to it. Like Dave Latele, he says: No excuses. He cut the naff curb-side food waste bin nonsense. That saved them 1.1 percent. Why has Auckland kept its scheme when most don't even use it? The fact is that this is all our fault. Not the fault of the councils or the mayors - and certainly not central Government who's sweeping in to try and save the day. It's us, the voters. We obviously don't care enough about council waste. Otherwise we'd have voted to get rid of it. It's a simple as that. Voter turnout in 2022 was 36 percent. In Auckland, our largest city, it was 31 percent! In some areas of Auckland it was only 20 percent. No wonder we're tripping over cycleways and raised crossings, paying for cooking classes at community centres and drowning in unnecessarily, infuriatingly exorbitant rates bills. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Local Government Minister says new legislation in the works will give councils clarity. An amendment bill's been introduced to Parliament to make local bodies focus on core services. It also demands regular public progress reports - and disclosure on the cost of consultants and contractors. Simon Watts says it's a return to bread and butter duties. "Previously, terms like social, cultural and economic type activities - they were all just catch-all. And as a result, some councils across the country were doing stuff that was basically wasteful spending." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whanganui's average rates increase of 2.2 percent for the year ahead is the lowest in the country. Mayor Andrew Tripe spoke to Morning Report.

The Taxpayers' Union has released its rates dashboard which ranks local bodies across the country on how much they have increased rates. The Taxpayers' Union local government campaigns manager Sam Warren spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

In today's episode, on Wednesday The Post reported that a group linked to 'Independent Together' was behind a research 'dossier' on Labour Party candidates; The net loss of New Zealanders headed across the Tasman last year was the highest it has been since 2012; "Play fast, think fast and adapt fast" are the words All Blacks coach Scott Robertson's using to fire up his team ahead of Saturday's test match against France; we have our weekly political panel; Kerry-Anne Walsh gives us the latest from across the Tasman.

On Wednesday The Post reported that a group linked to 'Independent Together' was behind a research 'dossier' on Labour Party candidates. Independent Together Mayoral Candidate Ray Chung spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

A former Muriwai resident who lost her home during Cyclone Gabrielle is adamant she would now be bankrupt without a council buyout of her property. Former Muriwai homeowner Caroline Bell-Booth spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Ongoing parking issues in Mount Maunganui - including being completely full at peak times - has led Tauranga City Council to try and find out-of-the-box solutions. Libby Kirkby-McLeod reports.

The government is considering placing a cap on how much local councils can increase rates. Local Government New Zealand president and Selwyn District mayor Sam Broughton spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Ongoing parking issues in Mount Maunganui - including being completely full at peak times - has led Tauranga City Council to try and find out-of-the-box solutions. Tauranga deputy mayor Jen Scoular spoke to Melissa Chan-Green.

In today's episode, Shayne Iti said his 15-year-old daughter Katie Margaret Iti died on Saturday in Hutt Hospital from complications of influenza B, the Royal Commission into the country's Covid-19 response has requested former prime minister Jacinda Ardern to appear for questioning, the government is considering placing a cap on how much local councils can increase rates, the second day of hearings on the proposed Regulatory Standards Bill will get underway at Parliament on Tuesday, and ongoing parking issues in Mount Maunganui - including being completely full at peak times - has led Tauranga City Council to try and find out-of-the-box solutions.

The mayor of South Taranaki says the district dodged a bullet after 280 millimetres of rain fell over 24 hours. Phil Nixon spoke to Melissa Chan-Green.

Makeshift shelters of cardboard and blankets, some propped up with road cones, are dotted along the street near Auckland City Mission, which is struggling to support an increase in rough sleepers. Amy Williams reports.

The government's turning to locals to help steer the build of the beleagured Dunedin Hospital, but they won't be giving advice on design, care or money. Dunedin mayor Jules Radich spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Taranaki hit with flash floods, slips, popped manholes and sewage flows as the region was pummelled by thunderstorms. New Plymouth District Mayor Neil Holdom spoke to Corin Dann.

Nominations for local elections officially open today, but Auckland Council is worried fewer people than usual are expressing an interest in running in Tamaki Makaurau. RNZ reporter Jessica Hopkins takes a look.

An apparent typo could have cost a North Island council $20 million in lost revenue. At a meeting last month, the New Plymouth District Council passed a resolution saying rates figures in its annual plan were inclusive of GST, when they were in fact exclusive of it. Now it has had to quickly correct the error and apologise to ratepayers. Taranaki Whanganui reporter Robin Martin reports.

The top of the South Island is set to be hit by 15 hours of heavy rain. MetService's head of weather news Heather Keats spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Residents in the Tasman settlement of Brooklyn, which borders the Motueka River, were urged to evacuate on Wednesday night. Tasman mayor Tim King spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

The Legendary Coasters App is an immersive storytelling tool that lets users explore Hokitika's colourful history through significant characters from the past.