Rebecca Fox

A proposal to increase charges for some resource consents has been voted down by a slim majority of Otago regional councillors.

A new way for people to have their say about what they think is good, bad or indifferent about the way the Department of Conservation (Doc) manages public land and native flora and fauna has just been launched in Otago and Southland.

Police are searching for a man who held up a Dunedin dairy at knife-point last night, the second armed robbery in the city in three days.

Rook numbers have dropped from 5000 to about 130 in Otago but those remaining are becoming increasingly difficult to target.

A group of students visiting Otago from the University of Peking in Beijing, China, is full of praise for the region and the activities it provides but has one complaint - the bus service.

A pedestrian and cycle bridge described as the "missing link" between Dunedin's Queens Gardens and the harbourside has been proposed by the Dunedin City Council.

A Fiordland crested penguin starting its moult has been rescued from a beach at Ocean View, south of Dunedin - where it was at risk from dog attacks - and released at Sandfly Bay, on Otago Peninsula.

A new enforcement tool is being developed to ensure landowners not complying with new rabbit-control regulations are compelled to do so.

Residents in Otago's high-pollution towns such as Alexandra, Arrowtown and Milton will not get a deferment from tight deadlines to improve their towns' air quality despite a Government announcement loosening the timeframes.

A kereru (wood pigeon) was released by Project Kereru members at Flagstaff yesterday.

Any delay in letting the public know the cost of constructing the Leith Lindsay Flood Protection Scheme had blown out was due to a lack of confidence in the figures provided by its consultants, Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Woodhead said.

The Government needs to stump up financially and contribute to the flood protection scheme on the Water of Leith, Otago regional councillors say.