Stories by Tracy Neal

Mike Ward has spent his political career campaigning on green principles and he's now having his fifth crack at Nelson's mayoralty.

Police say visits to some firearms owners are being carried out as a result of information received about troubling behaviour.

Busby is a 24-year-old Texel-Romney cross wether, and his secret to old age may lie in his diet of fresh fruit - including feijoas. Video

The Council of Licensed Firearms Owners plans to go to the police about the way in which some firearms owners are being treated, in response to new legislation banning some weapons.

At the Teapot Valley cordon this morning, police and Civil Defence emergency staff were letting only residents through.

The remaining 250 people who were evacuated because of the Tasman wildfires are now able to go home.

Nelson-Tasman is struggling with its driest weather in decades, with Golden Bay now in a one-in-20-year drought.

First there were floods, then fire and now drought with a water scientist saying the Tasman district is facing its worst drought since 2001.

Relentless heat and dry conditions are testing tempers, as hundreds remain out of their homes after the Tasman wildfires.

The animals including sheep, goats, dogs, chickens and turkeys, evacuated from areas threatened by the Tasman wildfire, are now on their way home.

The Tasman District is to meet under urgency as drought conditions loom.

The mayor of Nelson wants the public to buy back Pepin Island, just as it bought a beach in the Abel Tasman National Park.

A Niwa scientist has created what he says is a music score written by nature. Video, Audio

The ear bones of tiny eels might hold clues to their largely secret life, migratory habits and changing oceans.

Plans for a seawall up to 350 metres long in western Golden Bay are back on the table after residents raised concerns about rapidly increasing coastal erosion.

The Institute of Environmental Science and Research says people taking prescription medicines for conditions such as ADHD are unlikely to be caught out by roadside drug testing of drivers.

There's a break from the heat for southern parts of New Zealand today as a cold front moves north, but it is not going to last.

Owners of forestry blocks more than a hectare in size might soon be up for thousands of dollars in extra costs to harvest their trees.

A large-scale music festival staged in Nelson today is a trial run for an even bigger event in 2025, says the mayor of Nelson.

A New Zealand scientist has embarked on a plan to make leopard seals New Zealand citizens by moving to change their status from 'vagrant' to 'resident' species in local waters.

A New Zealand scientist has embarked on a plan to make leopard seals New Zealand citizens by moving to change their status from 'vagrant' to 'resident' species in local waters.

The government says work underway to develop roadside drug testing may supercede the objective of a petition launched in Nelson today.

A petition has been launched in Nelson today that seeks the urgent introduction of roadside drug testing of drivers.

A New Zealand marine ecologist says an ancient sunken forest in the North Island may provide more clues about climate change over centuries.

A private island north of Nelson city has gone on the market for $16 million.