Bay Of Plenty

Residents in the Wellington and Wairarapa regions are being warned to stay inside and away from windows due to heavy thunderstorms, MetService says.

The road was closed by a large slip at Pikowai and contractors worked overnight to clear it.

Former international rugby star Matua Parkinson has admitted purchasing guns to on-sell to someone without a licence, faking a burglary and then making a false insurance claim.

The crashes, which occurred in 2023, have been investigated for several months.

The country's largest kiwifruit packhouse has committed to installing AI to sense pedestrians around forklifts, after a worker was run over in 2022.

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell says seeing motels being used for emergency housing beyond the current consent period would be "disappointing".

Senior Sergeant Richard Miller said extra officers were being brought in and would monitor the memorial motorbike ride.

It has provided an early wakeup call for some with more than 2200 'felt it' reports to Geonet.

The child was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

State Highway 36 north of Rotorua has reopened after an earlier crash between a vehicle and a pedestrian.

A recently released Health and Disability Commission report found the ambulance was not sent as urgently as it should have been the night 17-year-old Tayla died.

A disgruntled ratepayer who police believe may be behind a bomb scare that saw a council's offices evacuated has appeared in court.

A ferry service between Mount Maunganui and Tauranga could be on the way in 2025.

A Tauranga teacher, who resigned citing ill health after he was accused of propositioning a student, faced decades of complaints.

Cloud cover has impacted monitoring of the island following a number of small eruptions, so a plane will fly over so experts can observe the volcanic activity. Audio

GNS Science said another minor eruption happened on Saturday morning and the aviation colour code had been raised to orange.

Scientists have lowered the volcanic activity level for Whakaari / White Island after a minor eruption. Video

Residents have been watching smoke and ash rise from the island. Audio

It's the first election since the last council was sacked by the local government minister and replaced with commissioners.

Whakatāne needs to prepare for an earthquake and tsunami similar to the 2011 Japan event which killed 20,000, scientist says.