East Coast

Tairāwhiti got its first taste of the options for this year's local body elections last night as nominees took the opportunity to introduce themselves at a "meet the candidates" event.

The coastal road providing the main access to Māhia Peninsula is slowly dropping into the sea, leaving one concerned resident wondering what plan of action is to be taken.

Gisborne district councillor Meredith Akuhata-Brown has apologised for comments aimed at the mayor but was absent at a council meeting where an in-person apology was expected.

Desperation has forced a young Tairāwhiti family to break down the door of an empty Kāinga Ora home and take up residence this month, even though utilities were disconnected.

Residents of a small East Coast town are still feeling the pinch from extreme weather in March, with some locked out of homes that have been red-stickered for months.

A lone lamp post that once kept watch at the end of a historic East Coast wharf is no more, removed for safety reasons despite the council expecting pushback.

One of the pools at Tairāwhiti's aquatic centre is so old the heating is failing.

New information has emerged on the ordeal endured by the crew of a shipwrecked boat the day it got into difficulty in rough seas off the East Coast.

Tairāwhiti has the highest hazardous drinking rate in the country according to a report presented to Gisborne District Council.

Economic confidence in Hawke's Bay and Tairāwhiti has rebounded, although people are still more pessimistic.

A homicide investigation has been launched in Gisborne after a woman was shot dead at a house.

Gisborne District Council has lost control of a river which frequently overflows and causes major issues for growers in the region, a resident claims.

They believe it will be key to distributing the region's goods but will need government funding.

Two current and one former police officer have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday honours.

It will be another sodden day for much of the North Island, with Taranaki set to bear the brunt of thunderstorms today.

A petition to abolish century-old legislation affecting land use in the small East Coast town of Tokomaru Bay has united the community in support of change.

A Gisborne district councillor wants a climate emergency to be declared for the region following severe weather events in Tairāwhiti.

A group of angry East Coast farmers descended on Napier today to protest against carbon forestry, which they say is destroying their towns.

Forestry owners say they are considering an appeal against a High Court decision which backed a council's move to stack its rating system against properties planted in trees.

A shotgun blast has left glass strewn through a child's bedroom in what police say is the latest example of gang-related violence in the Tairāwhiti region.