Canterbury

It is hoped a new helipad in a rural North Canterbury town will make it easier for emergency helicopters to land.

Twenty-five lakes, rivers and beaches have been graded by the regional council as unsuitable for swimming - more than last year.

The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ has gifted 40 air purifiers to Bromley School, to help pupils with asthma and their families.

Paul Tainui killed Kimberley Schroder in 1995 and Nicole Tuxford in 2018. He's now a case study for psychopathy for Corrections staff training, coroner's inquest has heard.

A mystery meat dumper has been filling Christchurch's public bins with hundreds of kilograms of meat in recent weeks.

The teenager accused of being behind the wheel of a pink-stickered car which smashed into a Rangiora home, killing another teen, was on a learner's licence.

Last election Labour's Jo Luxton swung Rangitata from blue to red for the first time ever - this year, the seat is set to be hotly contested by National again.

A two-month delay in clearing flood debris from a SH1 bridge is "not acceptable", Ashburton's mayor says.

A coroner's inquest into the murder of a Christchurch woman in 2018 has been told that here was no requirement for her killer to report to his parole officer about any new intimate relationships.

A teenager involved in a crash that killed an 18-year-old this morning has been charged with dangerous driving causing death.

The search for missing real estate agent Yanfei Bao is continuing in a rural area south of Christchurch.

A former patient's experience in Christchurch's worn out, cramped mental health facilities for young people is driving him to help raise the funds needed for an upgrade.

A pathway into work in health for Māori and Pasifika has been so successful, whānau and friends of participants are signing up too.

Equitable access to cancer treatment is "broken", with some patients paying up to $7000 in accommodation and travel as doctor shortages force them to other regions, the Cancer Society says. Audio

Far-right activist and former neo-Nazi leader Kyle Chapman was arrested on Friday and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Environment Canterbury has issued a warning after materials containing asbestos were discovered in an old dump site in the Waimakariri River Regional Park, on the north bank.

The Labour Party has launched its own pledge card, outlining nine policies it would introduce if re-elected.

The future of Christchurch's Cardboard Cathedral is in question, now that the parish it belongs to has agreed to dissolve.

A former spokesperson for the Transitional Cathedral is saddened by the prospect the building could be sold. Audio