Stories by Tracy Neal

Emergency work to get the Takaka Hill open all day has cost $2.6 million, and there's more to come, the transport agency says.

A special conservation order is being sought to help protect the clear, cold waters of Golden Bay's Te Waikoropupu Springs from increased demand from commercial, mining and irrigation users. Video

A former guard at the New Zealand embassy in Moscow during the height of the cold war says being officially recognised for their service is an honour.

There's more bad weather on the way for Auckland and parts of the upper North Island, but MetService says the colder temperatures that have gripped parts of the country are expected to ease.

The Tasman District Council says it is facing a critical hurdle in its bid to build a large dam, now that nine hectares of Crown land it needs is no longer available.

Defence Force staff sent to the New Zealand Embassy in Moscow at the height of Cold War tensions have been officially recognised for their service.

A Marlborough man who farms next to the saltworks south of Seddon is backing an idea for better monitoring of its effects on neighbours.

The number of jobseekers door-knocking a Motueka orchard and packhouse on a daily basis has dropped from the usual 20 or 30 a day to almost none, the orchard's director says.

A Marlborough township exposed to Cook Strait urgently needs a new emergency exit route in case a tsunami hits, say locals.

A lack of wind, too much wind, and the odd whale or two are expected to be among the biggest challenges facing skippers in a solo yacht race across the Tasman Sea.

Two large ex-tropical cyclones that dominated February weather in the top of the south are linked to the region's biggest slump in business confidence in several years.

The head of the Nelson-Tasman Hospice says charging users for the service is something it may have to consider in the future.

A Marlborough Sounds eco tourism operator wants to see all shipping stopped in the Tory Channel, which he says is at increased risk of a large-scale disaster.

Some Marahau residents are still living in fear of more forest harvest being swept down the hill onto properties, as the clean up is moving too slowly.

In Takaka, the cash tills have gone quiet and the cafes have largely emptied.

Nearly one in three lodges monitored in the Marlborough Sounds are breaching rules about how they get rid of wastewater, including one without the necessary resource consent.

A Marlborough farmer battling an invasive pest plant has found a way to manage it, but says it will take decades to repair damaged land.

Golden Bay residents, who had their only road cut off by damage from last month's storm, are demanding that the government step up to help their plight.

Courier drivers between Nelson and Golden Bay say timed closures of the Takaka Hill have added pressure to their schedule, but some have been granted special midday permits.

A south Marlborough community organisation is investing government funds in finding ways to protect itself from the impact of future earthquakes.

Police are investigating after tests confirmed that poison was responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of bees on a Murchison property in January.

Marahau locals are calling for the hills above to no longer be used for forestry as the town recovers from debris and huge logs being swept into the town by Cyclone Gita.

The Marahau community has banded together to help each other in the wake of last week's storm which destroyed homes in the area, the manager of a local cafe says.

A Takaka Hill resident says the storm that brought down slips and completely blocked the road should be a wake up call for many.

A Civil Defence manager in Riwaka says they have been dealing with a lot of distraught people suffering upheaval since the Cyclone Gita storm.