Debbie Porteous

An independent commissioner has come down on the side of the residents who live above Dunedin's Ellis Park and decided there will be new softball clubrooms at the park, but they will be further along Fraser Rd, away from the houses on the hill above.

The ''arrogant and counter-productive antics'' of protesters who disrupted Shell's meeting in Dunedin this week did the city a ''huge disservice'' at a time when it should be showing the oil company a friendly face, city councillors say.

The Otago Regional Council has issued a discharge consent for Hope and Sons' new cremator at Mosgiel, and says the discharge from it will not be harmful to human health and will be barely visible.

A health warning sign to be erected on St Kilda Beach near Lawyers Head is not a result of pollution caused by the Tahuna wastewater treatment plant, the Dunedin City Council says.

Hope and Sons hopes to be operating a crematorium in Mosgiel's industrial zone by early next year.

The Dunedin Ratepayers and Householders' Association is to be dissolved.

Allowing Veggie Boys to operate on the Taieri will not set a precedent because it is in a unique situation, the company says.

The crumbling last remnants of the St Clair pavilion will be largely demolished by the Dunedin City Council.

There was an air of excitement in the council chamber yesterday as councillors arrived for the first Dunedin City Council meeting recorded for public broadcast.

All those associated with Saturday night's Paul Simon concert in Dunedin, including the star performer, have declared the event a success and agree Forsyth Barr Stadium seems to have found its form as a venue.