East Coast

Rehette Stoltz has secured a second term as mayor of Gisborne with an emphatic win, more than 4000 votes clear of her nearest rival.

A spate of shootings over recent days in Tairāwhiti is "extremely concerning", police say.

Napier mayor admits to making a mistake in public statements about how much her council would invest in Three Waters compared to the government's reforms.

Mayoral candidates in Gisborne and Wairoa have shown overwhelming support for Māori wards, but there are differences in opinion on other key election topics.

Two state highways in the North Island are closed due to a fallen tree and a slip, with heavy rain expected in northern and eastern areas.

An 18-year-old man has been arrested after a shooting in Gisborne last night which injured a woman and two young people.

Police in Tairāwhiti are trying to find a person who may have a weapon.

Accusations of foul language, intimidating behaviour and conspiring to record a conversation spelt the end of a council-run group designed to be the eyes and ears of the city, a leaked report shows.

An incumbent district councillor in Gisborne believes election rules disadvantage newcomers from securing a seat at the table.

The SPCA expects to desex 30,0000 animals over two years in a campaign to combat the overpopulation of dogs and cats.

A Gisborne mayoral candidate is standing by a controversial picture on social media which shows him standing in a hazmat suit with a swastika on the front.

There is a real race on for the local elections in Tairāwhiti, with the highest number of candidates in 21 years. RNZ meets the four vying to be mayor of Gisborne.

Tairāwhiti got its first taste of the options for this year's local body elections last night as nominees took the opportunity to introduce themselves at a "meet the candidates" event.

The coastal road providing the main access to Māhia Peninsula is slowly dropping into the sea, leaving one concerned resident wondering what plan of action is to be taken.

Gisborne district councillor Meredith Akuhata-Brown has apologised for comments aimed at the mayor but was absent at a council meeting where an in-person apology was expected.

Desperation has forced a young Tairāwhiti family to break down the door of an empty Kāinga Ora home and take up residence this month, even though utilities were disconnected.

Residents of a small East Coast town are still feeling the pinch from extreme weather in March, with some locked out of homes that have been red-stickered for months.

A lone lamp post that once kept watch at the end of a historic East Coast wharf is no more, removed for safety reasons despite the council expecting pushback.

One of the pools at Tairāwhiti's aquatic centre is so old the heating is failing.