ORC

If the Otago Regional Council and the Otago Conservation Board do not join forces with Otago authorities to wage war against wilding conifer infestations, "our children are not going to look at anything but pine trees", Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden says.

Changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) to ensure local councils have greater awareness of the economic impact of their decisions may come too late to affect a controversial plan to manage water in Otago.

When the Otago Regional Council next calls for tenders for public bus services, it will give operators the chance to bid to two different standards.

Information on the proposed Tarras irrigation scheme's "purpose and outcomes" will go out to the public alongside the Otago Regional Council's proposal to invest in it.

Otago ratepayers have only a few days before penalties on unpaid regional council rate accounts take effect.

Farmers, the people most affected by proposed rural water quality regulations, had the last word as the public hearing on the changes ended in Dunedin yesterday.

Proposed water quality regulations could be the "death knell" of large-scale commercial forestry in Otago, a regional forestry group says.

Most farmers in Otago will not be able to meet the standards set by Otago Regional Council's water plan change, Federated Farmers members say.

Graeme Martin has been described as everything from a compassionate, principled, visionary genius to an inflexible, stubborn, demanding taskmaster. Bruce Munro examines pieces of the puzzle that make up the influential, complex and soon to retire chief executive of the Otago Regional Council.

The Otago Regional Council has agreed to further investigate the option of building a detention pond in Northeast Valley, Dunedin, to contain flood waters from Lindsay Creek, but has called for a "cautious" approach to be taken.