Glenn Conway

Balclutha Bowling Club members, still reeling from the fire which destroyed their clubrooms last weekend, will be briefed tomorrow night on their options.

New Zealand farming families acknowledged for the century-plus ties to their properties were on the cusp of the biggest opportunity in this country's history, those attending the third annual New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards heard in Lawrence on Saturday night.

Balclutha Bowling Club members tried to crack jokes in the face of losing their clubrooms to fire early on Saturday morning, to stave off what otherwise would most likely have been tears.

Alcohol may be banned from the entire main street of Balclutha as plans for a liquor bylaw gain momentum.

Aggressive work by Clutha District Council staff in recent months has seen the amount of rates arrears owing to the local authority drop by several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Police are looking for a young man believed to have stolen a rental car from Christchurch and who evaded police after a brief chase near Balclutha yesterday.

Public meetings, presentations and even texting will be used by the Clutha District Council when it talks to residents next year about the first review of its long-term council community plan.

Drink-driving publicity may be seen as nothing more than entertainment, having no real impact on offenders, say Balclutha police, who are fuming at the number of drink-drivers caught in South Otago in recent weeks.

Clutha's business watchdog has gone into bat for Telford Rural Polytechnic, whose long-term future could be decided by a review of land-based tertiary education funding.

Clutha's new youth council has backed plans to ban alcohol in key public areas of Balclutha and Milton but also wants another part of Balclutha included.

The Clutha District Council is brushing up on how it handles the media and communicates with the public in general, after being told that in dealings with the media, it should be seen ‘‘in the best possible light''.

Consents are being sought for a floodbank in southern Milton, which officials believe will prevent a repeat of disastrous floods which occurred there twice in the past two years.

Waihola's new school and community library, which has been more three years in the making, will be officially opened on April 19.