Bay Of Plenty

The beach was closed as the near metre-long shark swam by.

Drysdale was elected in July as part of the first council to take back democratic control of the city.

A Bay of Plenty music festival that is a fundraiser for mental health is happening for the last time in February, due to sponsorship drying up.

Whakatāne District Council has expanded its road safety stops, despite budget cuts.

The team who enforce rules on the water in the Bay of Plenty are anticipating a busy few months after dishing out 150 infringements last summer.

Formal identification of the body, which was found near the mouth of the harbour, is still underway.

The installation of a rainbow crossing in Tauranga is bittersweet, the pride advocate who made it happen says.

Coromandel police say they have carried out over 900 alcohol breath tests across 28 checkpoints yesterday that resulted in five drivers being processed for excess breath alcohol.

Police are searching for those responsible after cars were rammed and on-lookers were sent running and screaming.

People should avoid contact with the water at Ōkawa Bay in Lake Rotoiti, due to a potentially toxic algal bloom, Health New Zealand says.

The officers - who had been called to a case of family harm - tried to persuade the 48-year-old out of the water but he refused.

Two people have died after crashes in the first 12 hours of the holiday road toll period, and both sides of State Highway 2 has been closed in Lower Hutt, after a crash.

The arrests follow a four-month operation focused on the drug trade in the Bay of Plenty city, police say.

Its owners say the project will boost services in a region where the population is increasing.

Metservice warns thunderstorms and heavy rain could hit on Saturday.

Customs officers became aware of a suspicious concealment on 11 December after a routine X-ray of a container.

The transport agency says traffic moves more "steadily" with fewer lanes.

Whakatāne Hospital's Maternity Unit will be downgraded to a primary birthing centre from mid-January with women needing specialist care being transported to Tauranga.

All four specialists have resigned at Whakatāne Hospital, leaving midwives "sick" with worry: "What happens if something goes wrong?"

Māori ward councillor Mikaere Sydney has been in hospital since July.