A new Government report identifying Northland as one of the parts of New Zealand most at risk of a tsunami comes as no surprise to Civil Defence officials in the region.
Research into whether garden centres are helping spread a pest ant and studies of farm dairy effluent treatment have earned two polytechnic students Northland Regional Council Environmental Management Awards.
A team of three internationally successful women sailors is to share the ‘Northland Sailor of the Year’ trophy.
Overworked septic tanks struggling to cope with an influx of summer holidaymakers may pose a threat to the coastal environment, the Northland Regional Council warns.
The Far North District Council (FNDC) has been granted resource consent to upgrade its Hihi Beach sewage treatment system.
Resource consent has been granted for a planned redevelopment of the Paihia Wharf worth about $750,000.
Whangarei residents trying to avoid paying newly introduced rubbish charges are being linked to an increase in illegal backyard refuse burning.
Farmers and other landowners with an interest in getting the best from their land are being urged to attend one of two free mid-North workshops on maximising soil efficiency.
Northlanders are being asked to report sightings of wild goats so the animals can be controlled before they worsen erosion and other problems.
A good tidy up under the feijoa tree now can help prevent it falling victim to the unwanted attentions of a hungry insect pest in the coming weeks.
This year’s Northland Regional Council Environmental Fund has grown to almost $300,000, thanks in part to industry partnerships with organisations like Honda.
Stoats can be wily and difficult adversaries, but effort spent controlling them can have a huge impact on the survival of young native birds.
A student studying environmental management at Auckland University is the latest recipient of a $10,000 Northland Regional Council Sustainable Management Scholarship.
Rural Kaipara residents will have another chance to rid themselves of unwanted agrichemicals when a special Northland Regional Council collection team returns to the district next month (November).
An Environment Court judge has fined a large Northland contracting firm $10,000 for its “negligence” while excavating a Whangarei riverbed.
People illegally taking sand, pebbles and boulders from the region’s beaches could worsen erosion and other problems and risk prosecution if caught, the Northland Regional Council warns.
Mighty River Power can convert the mothballed Marsden B power station to run on coal – but must meet some of the toughest environmental conditions ever imposed in Australasia, a panel of independent commissioners has decided.
Landowners are being warned to expect an upsurge in nocturnal possum activity as the voracious pests go on the move to take advantage of new spring growth.
Twenty-one buoyancy aids worth about $1700 have been donated to a Whangarei-based group aiming to boost the safety and confidence of young people around water.
The Northland Regional Council is urgently seeking a person keen to be its eyes and ears along the coast of the rapidly growing Bream Bay area.
Northlanders are being urged to act now to control a pest plant that can both affect stock health and sour neighbourly relations.
Organisers are planning a dramatic expansion of a community-based planting programme that has seen an estimated 3200 native plants go into the ground at Lake Omapere this month.
A 17-year-old Parua Bay student’s studies of fish tank algal growth have earned her this year’s Northland Regional Council ‘Consistent Excellence Award’ at the Central Northland Science and Technology Fair.
Strong public support for a Lake Omapere planting project means organisers are now confident of reaching a goal to have 3000-plus native trees in the ground by this weekend.
A beneficial undersea grass that once covered hundreds of hectares of Whangarei Harbour before falling victim to sediment pollution might now be capable of a comeback, new research suggests.
Yellow, sulphurous looking dust that has been coating parked cars in Whangarei is nothing more sinister the pine tree pollen, the Northland Regional Council says.
Juvenile thistles infesting Northland pastures should be sprayed now while they are small and most susceptible to herbicides, the Northland Regional Council says.
Northland biosecurity experts are urging landowners to ‘do the neighbourly thing’ and ensure their boundaries are clear of pest plants before the plants can infest adjoining properties.
Two oversized Northland marine farms – one 13 hectares bigger than its consent allowed for – have been fined a total of $30,000 after a successful prosecution by the Northland Regional Council.
Rain weary Northlanders are expected to today finally get some respite from bad weather that has dumped a month’s worth of rain on the region this week.
Northland appears to be coping well despite widespread surface flooding and slips caused by torrential rain today.
Northlanders are being warned to keep a watchful eye on the region’s rain swollen creeks and rivers with widespread flooding expected over eastern areas from Kaeo to Whangarei today (Weds 06 July).
A Northland helicopter pilot has been found guilty of the illegal discharge of herbicide spray into a Northland stream causing substantial losses to horticulturalists in the immediate area.
The Northland Regional Council has dropped plans to fund a proposed multi-use events centre this year - a move expected to slash almost $4 million off 2005/06 rates bills.
Plans to develop a native tree and bird sanctuary are among a dozen school projects that will receive almost $12,500 funding from this year’s Northland Regional Council Environmental Curriculum Awards.
Four independent commissioners have been appointed for the joint hearing into the proposal by Mighty River Power to convert the Marsden power station to run on coal.
Kaikohe’s wastewater will be disinfected within two years in an upgrade to the current treatment system.
A total of 5158 submissions has been received for the Northland Regional Council’s annual plan. The overwhelming majority of submissions were about the regional events centre proposal.
Sixteen Northland schools have been awarded special stream water quality testing kits worth a total of almost $7000 after a successful application on their behalf by the Northland Regional Council.
A proposed $170,000 extra funding could boost this year’s Northland Regional Council Environmental Fund to $286,000.
A company planning to export bottled water from Whangarei’s Poroti Springs has been granted resource consent to take groundwater for the next 30 years.
Far North people keen to learn pest and predator control tips from the experts will get the chance at a free seminar in Kaitaia in early July.
Demand by users will see Whangarei’s popular public bus service expanded to include several new Otangarei stops - and offer a new service to Maunu - from later this month. (May)
More than $4000 worth of Timms possum traps are to given away free to dozens of property owners in a bid to better protect about 2000 hectares of native bush on the western edge of Whangarei City.
Resource consents have been granted for a major project to replace the Opua Cruising Club’s clubrooms.
Only a few days remain for schools to apply for a slice of a $20,000 Northland Regional Council environmental education award fund.
Far North residents are being asked to pay for a major overhaul of the 100-year-old scheme that protects Kaitaia and surrounding farmland from flooding.
Far North residents are risking hefty fines by illegally dredging in coastal areas or building jetties and other structures, the Northland Regional Council warns.
Northland Regional Councillors have approved a $27 million draft 2005-06 budget that includes provision for a proposed Regional Multi-Use Events Centre.
New oil spill equipment will get its first trial run in a full exercise involving up to 32 people in the Whangarei Harbour next week (Tuesday 19 April).
Dry summer and autumn conditions are behind a current increase in reports of rabbit-related damage to Northland lawns, plantings and pastures.
Northland schools aiming to boost their environmental education are being encouraged to apply for a share in a special Northland Regional Council award.
Two tonnes of hazardous waste has been collected in the Whangarei District over the past three weeks.
The Northland Regional Council has received the results of a telephone survey on the proposed regional events centre at Okara Park in Whangarei.
Northland landowners are being invited to two interactive workshops to showcase the planting, management and use of native trees to improve farms.
Searchers today recovered another 10 toxic packages from the sea off the Poor Knights Islands but believe the danger originally posed by the chemical concerned has now apparently passed.
Searchers recovered about a third of an estimated 40 toxic packages believed to be floating off the Northland coast before fading light forced a halt to their efforts today.
The first of an estimated 40 toxic packages floating off the Northland coast are expected to be recovered by chemical experts aboard the Navy vessel Manawanui about 1.30pm today. (Mon 04 April)
A Northland woman studying resource planning at Otago University is the latest recipient of a Northland Regional Council $5000 Sustainable Management Scholarship.
A spray programme designed to eradicate invasive spartina grass in Northland harbours and estuaries is progressing well, with few traces of the plant now left in some harbours.
The Northland Regional Council is offering free identification and eradication of the aggressive pest plant ‘Lantana camara’ from gardens in the Whangarei and Kaipara Districts.
Thousands of wind-borne moth plant seeds are about to be spread throughout the Northland environment, dramatically increasing the risk of unwanted new infestations.
A telephone survey of Northlanders’ opinions on a proposed $30.7M regional events centre is due to begin tomorrow. (Friday, 11 March)
Consultants are recommending Whangarei’s Okara Park as the future home of a proposed $30.7 million multi-purpose regional events centre.
A proposal to convert the Marsden B power station to run on coal has attracted a record 3000-plus submissions to the Northland Regional Council - six times the previous highest number for a Northland development.
A voracious animal pest that loves to dine on Northland’s plant-life will find itself on the menu at the upcoming Northland Agricultural Field Days at Dargaville.
Rural property owners in the Whangarei District will next month get their chance to make use of free Northland Regional Council collections of hazardous wastes and unwanted agricultural chemicals.
Ongoing trials to reseed cockles at Takahiwai near Whangarei have received an almost $37,500 boost from an annual fund designed to improve the health of Whangarei Harbour.
Roughly a third of Whangarei Harbour is poised to gain extra protection from development under changes proposed by the Northland Regional Council.
Northland horticulturists are being invited to a free workshop to explain two cutting-edge computer programmes designed to make irrigation and agrichemical applications more environmentally friendly and effective.
Regional Council biosecurity experts are urging Northlanders to tackle one of the region’s nastiest weeds now, before it can develop new seedpods and cause landowners even bigger headaches next year.
A digger was used to scrape several tonnes of contaminated sand and shell from a Marsden Pt beach in one of two oil spill incidents to affect the area at the weekend.