Steve Hepburn

An Invercargill couple spent more than 24 hours waiting and queuing when travelling to the United Kingdom as the Iran-Israel conflict threw their schedule into chaos.

Environment Southland has given the thumbs down to the amalgamation proposal of Southland councils, raising concerns over costs, waning support and over-inflated suggested savings.

An appeal has been lodged with the Environment Court over a controversial development in Bannockburn, with the appellant saying it is "prepared to go the whole way".

There has been plenty of interest but the dream to do something with a piece of land in Heriot remains on the table.

A Gore couple who were married for more than 65 years died within 10 days of each other and had a rare combined funeral in the town earlier this week.

The Gore District Council has more than 100 policies, some out of date, while there are multiple editions of the same document being found in different policy libraries.

In what seems a never-ending war against spreading pine trees, a battle is going on in the back-blocks of the region to try to stop the trees swamping the Rock and Pillar Range.

A controversial housing development in Bannockburn has been given the green light, with commissioners saying the rule, which many thought limited building in the village, had no legal basis.