Rebecca Fox

Two Otago projects have "won the lottery", with more than $5 million coming to the region from the Lottery Significant Projects Fund.

Dunedin City Council's vision for the harbourside scheme is "a little optimistic" and should be limited to the area directly around the waterfront, council urban design consultant Janet Reeves says.

A breakthrough in predator control in the habitat of Otago and grand skinks at Macraes Flat has led to a dramatic recovery in numbers of the lizards, which had previously been believed to be "doomed" to extinction.

Te Whaka, the near derelict resident of Otago Harbour's wharves, was moved to a new home at Fryatt wharf this week, but the move was short-lived.

Hector's dolphin protection measures will slow their decline, but more are needed if the populations are to recover, University of Otago Associate Professor Liz Slooten says.

Funding for the maintenance of Otago and Southland roads will increase by $10.8 million, to more than $90 million, in the final round of annual National Land Transport Programme funding.

Seeing the crowds of people huddled around two vehicles yesterday, you could have been forgiven for thinking they were looking at the latest model cars - instead they were a mini and a ute converted to run on electric power.

Trail bike riders will get caught, prosecuted and possibly lose their bikes, if they continue to scar and wreck outstanding landscapes and historic sites throughout Otago, the Department of Conservation warns.