Heath Milne
West Coast bucks trend with increase in retail spending
Data from Worldline NZ shows the West Coast is bucking that trend with a 4.2 percent increase in retail spending in December, as people got out and about in the region. Development West Coast chief… Audio
SH6 north of Haast to reopen
Waka Kotahi plans to re-open State Highway 6 north of Haast from 10 o'clock on Friday morning. Development West Coast chief executive Heath Milne spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss. Audio
West Coast leads the country in tourism spending growth
It was also one of only two regions in the entire country to have positive GDP growth in the last financial quarter, alongside Auckland. Audio
Heaphy Track reopens after storm damage
One of the country's Great Walks - the 82-kilometre Heaphy Track, in the West Coast's Kahurangi National Park - is fully reopening on Thursday.
It's been more than a year-and-a-half since a storm… Audio
Convoys make it through Haast pass as one lane opens for traffic
Two return convoys have managed to get through Haast Pass today as Waka Kotahi opened a single lane on the vital storm damaged route along state highway six. Muddy Creek Bridge north of Makarora was… Video, Audio
Development West Coast hoping to attact more workers
Are you cut out for the coast?
That's the question West Coast Development is asking in a bid to attract local and international workers.
They're looking for people who want to be weekday warriors… Audio
First home buyers flocking to Westport
The town with the cheapest houses in the country is increasingly attracting first-home buyers.
The average house price in Westport is just a third of the national average and that's appealing to… Audio
Job listings surge on the West Coast
The West Coast job market is booming with a surge in listings and many workers taking advantage of a programme to upskill. The region is also ahead of the pack in GDP growth for the year to March… Audio
Push to get West Coast residents vaccinated revving up
The push to get West Coast residents double-vaccinated against Covid-19 is revving up with every fully vaccinated person in the region eligible to win a brand new car.
But there's a catch, the prize… Audio
Economic boom in the Buller District
Reports of the west coast's demise have been very much exaggerated! Heath Milne is the Chief Executive of the charitable trust Development West Coast and talks Jesse through the numbers. Audio
Disappointment after Tourism Minister's visit to Fox, Franz Josef
All talk and no support was the conclusion from Franz Josef and Fox Glacier locals after a meeting with the Tourism Minister today.
Stuart Nash and West Coast Tasman MP Damien O'Connor fronted… Audio