Matthew Haggart

A legal appeal to overturn a declined resource consent preventing Wanaka landowner John Roberts from subdividing his property has been argued at an Environment Court hearing in Wanaka.

The skydiving plane which crashed killing nine people in Fox Glacier in September may have been off-balance and overweight when it took off, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission says.

An engineering report has confirmed a cracked council building in Wanaka requires only superficial repairs to structural cladding.

Police have launched an investigation into an insurance-related fraud allegedly committed by a former company employee.

Construction of Wanaka's biggest development has been cleared to start, after a competing property developer dropped its last-ditch appeal to the Environment Court against the massive Three Parks project.

The Hawea Flat school has undergone some profound changes during its 128 years, says first-time author Glenda Turnbull, who has written a history of the school.

The "unusual quality" of a residential subdivision in Wanaka and its special design concept have helped its developers secure resource consent from the Queenstown Lakes District Council.

A Wanaka Melbourne Cup charity event has raised about $5000 for the Upper Clutha Children's Medical Trust.

The Lake Hawea Fire Brigade investigated a controlled and permitted fire burn-off at Hawea Flat yesterday when a member of the public alerted emergency services.

Queenstown police say Swedish backpacker Christoffer Tornberg (23) - reported missing two weeks ago from Queenstown - is an illegal overstayer who is probably trying to avoid Immigration New Zealand.

Jet-boating enthusiasts may have gained access to one of the last bastions of river wilderness in the Queenstown Lakes, but getting there in the first place remains a hard slog.

Wanaka police have recovered more items as part of their ongoing investigation into a string of youth-related burglaries of holiday homes in the resort.