Waikato Regional Council

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato has chosen the four high school students who will represent our region at this year’s Sir Peter Blake Youth Environment Forum in Wellington from April 19-23.

368 views

WAIKATO — Waikato Regional Transport Committee chairman Norm Barker has welcomed the Government’s announcement of an extra $1 billion for state highways, which will help progress key roading projects like the Waikato Expressway.

210 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato has adopted its Draft 2009-19 Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) and is hoping for a flood of submissions on its proposed activities and budgets.

227 views

WAIKATO — James Luty (centre) is the latest winner of Environment Waikato’s annual prize in water science.

1,152 views

WAIKATO — Former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Morgan Williams has told Environment Waikato councillors that sustainability is no longer just a “nice to have”.

236 views

WAIKATO — Feedback is being sought on the Waikato region’s key resource management issues and some of the options for addressing them, as part of the process for reviewing Environment Waikato’s Regional Policy Statement (RPS).

203 views

WAIKATO — Natural hazard risk is increasing in the Waikato due to more development in hazard-prone areas and climate change, says a new report from Environment Waikato.

337 views

WAIKATO — Off peak bus use is continuing to surge in Hamilton as people take advantage of new services provided in the last year by Environment Waikato.

281 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato councilors have voted to accept pay rises following recommendations from the independent Remuneration Authority, which sets pay of elected officers and statutory officials.

300 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato councillors have agreed that proposals for new ways of rating for the Waihou and Piako river and catchment works are to be included in the council’s draft Long-Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) 2009-19.

319 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato’s flood management team has been placed on standby after heavy rain and wind warnings were issued for northern and eastern parts of the region.

427 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato’s submission on legislation to enact the Waikato-Tainui co-management deal for the Waikato River says the agreement is positive for the river’s health but needs the details sorted out to ensure co-management runs smoothly.

299 views

HAMILTON — Environment Waikato’s council has today approved bus fare rises for Hamilton.

532 views

WAIKATO — Recent rain around the Waikato has significantly eased fears of drought in the region this summer, says Environment Waikato.

219 views

WAIKATO — Waipa Districts cafes, restaurants and accommodation providers are being offered a free workshop to help them run their businesses more sustainably.

417 views

WAIKATO — Keeping our beaches beautiful and safe for people and marine life is everyone’s responsibility, says Environment Waikato.

320 views

WAIKATO — An Environment Waikato hearing committee is recommending that proposals for new ways of rating for the Waihou and Piako river and catchment works are included in the council’s draft Long-Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) 2009-19.

326 views

WAIKATO — Regional pest management strategy budget cuts worth just over $1.5 million in 2009-2010 have been put forward for discussion by Environment Waikato’s regional pest management committee.

238 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato councillors look set to turn down a pay rise this year in line with moves to develop a budget that reflects difficult economic times.

225 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato’s finance and audit committee has today approved proposals for Hamilton bus fare rises designed to help EW cope with cost increases and other financial pressures.

372 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato is expressing disappointment at the need to propose reductions to planned spending on air quality improvements in towns such as Taupo, Te Kuiti and Tokoroa.

221 views

COROMANDEL — Environment Waikato says it is extremely pleased at the Government’s announcement that it will fund an early start to construction of a new Kopu Bridge near Thames on the Coromandel.

480 views

MORRINSVILLE — Environment Waikato has advised the Environment Court that it supports a bid by New Zealand Mushrooms to extend the operation of its current Morrinsville composting operation until the end of 2010.

553 views

HAMILTON — Hamilton City Council has been successful in its application to take up to 146 million cubic metres of water per day from the Waikato River.

547 views

WAIKATO — Older people are “joyriding” for free on Waikato bus services since the introduction of the Supergold travel card, the regional passenger transport committee has heard.

441 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato is sending vouchers for big discounts on water-saving gadgets to all Waikato residents this week.

368 views

COROMANDEL — Two new Coromandel summer bus services introduced by Environment Waikato and Thames-Coromandel District Council, with assistance from community volunteers, have proved a hit over the holiday period.

477 views

WAIKATO — Waikato’s road toll was again the highest in the country last year, despite the number of deaths dropping from 89 the previous year to 74, says Regional Transport Committee chairman Norm Barker.

174 views

WAIKATO — A team of more than 40 Environment Waikato staff is taking part in Bike Wise Month which gets underway on Sunday.

287 views

WAIKATO — Tui appear to be thriving after a joint Environment Waikato and community-funded pest control operation in the Maungakawa Reserve near Cambridge last year.

2,538 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato says it is encouraged by Local Government Minister Rodney Hides response to council concerns about the increasing burden on regional tax payers of meeting Government driven costs.

207 views

WAIKATO — Wetlands are like giant kidneys protecting the health of waterways  they help dilute and filter material that could otherwise harm our lakes and rivers.

314 views

WAIKATO — Managing our soils sustainably is crucial for our regional economy and ecosystems.

538 views

WAIKATO — A new bus that emits almost nil carbon dioxide is a feature of new services being introduced by Environment Waikato next week.

401 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato’s Sustainabiz service, which offers sustainability advice for small to medium businesses, is starting 2009 with a focus on helping hospitality industry businesses improve their environmental performance.

282 views

WAIKATO — A truck accident just north of Tirau this morning does not appear to have caused any harm to the environment, Environment Waikato says.

476 views

WAIKATO — Christmas and the holiday season generate a lot of waste – packaging from presents, wrapping paper and excess food.

470 views

COROMANDEL — Environment Waikato and the local council are introducing a new holiday season Coromandel bus service connecting Hot Water Beach, Hahei Beach, Cooks Beach and Ferry Landing.

575 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato is clarifying that proposed new rules covering the wearing of lifejackets in vessels less than six metres do not make wearing them compulsory in all circumstances.

544 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato is reminding motorcyclists and drivers of four-wheel drive vehicles to keep out of sand dunes on the region’s West Coast beaches for human safety and environmental reasons.

326 views

WAIKATO — The pest plant privet – which has been linked to respiratory problems – is set to be more targeted by Environment Waikato after an updated regional pest management strategy (RPMS) was formally signed off by council today.

513 views

WAIKATO — A change to Environment Waikato’s Navigation Safety Bylaw will make it compulsory for boat users to wear lifejackets at all times from July 1 2009.

1,121 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato has announced new measures to help the council manage through the current difficult economic times.

238 views

WAIKATO — A $39,000 grant from Environment Waikato has given 13 kiwi chicks their best possible shot at survival this year.

735 views

HAMILTON — A new Christmas Day bus service is ready to roll for the first time in Hamilton this year.

254 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato is urging people to be considerate when lighting outdoor fires this summer as smoke can quickly become a major nuisance, especially when people are outdoors enjoying the good weather.

301 views

WAIKATO — After nearly two years of information gathering, Environment Waikato has decided to prepare an amendment to the Regional Coastal Plan that would allow new types of marine farming, including fish farming, within current aquaculture management areas.

380 views

WAIKATO — Waikato motorists are being urged to be especially vigilant driving over the holiday period despite new figures showing a dip in road fatalities so far this year.

171 views

WAIKATO — Last summer’s drought was a strong reminder to the Waikato community that we can’t take the region’s freshwater resources for granted.

265 views

HAMILTON — Environment Waikato says it is pleased bus services in Hamilton are now back to normal following the end of a pay dispute between bus company Go Bus and drivers who belong to the Northern Distribution Workers Union.

454 views

HAMILTON — Environment Waikato says it is disappointed Go Bus and locked out union member drivers have still been unable to agree to more face-to-face pay talks (as at 4.30pm Monday).

478 views

WAIKATO — Defendants in the Wallace Corporation PCB toxic waste burial case in the Waikato have collectively been hit with fines of $120,000, the highest total ever handed down in a prosecution brought under the Resource Management Act.

642 views

It’s the early bird that gets the worm.

308 views

WAIKATO — Farm operators can minimise the environmental impact of dairy conversions by getting expert advice on infrastructure design, says Environment Waikato’s catchment services committee chairman Andra Neeley.

199 views

TAUPO — The land around Lake Taupo may soon be dotted with dairy goats and sheep, blueberries, grapes and willows for biofuel as farmers look for alternatives to current pastoral farming practices, the main source of nitrogen leaching into Lake Taupo.

760 views

WAIKATO — Twelve Waikato schools and a Hamilton kindergarten have achieved Enviroschools awards this year.

658 views

MORRINSVILLE — Morrinsville-based New Zealand Mushrooms has been fined a total of $32,000 after admitting six charges brought by Environment Waikato related to the discharge of objectionable odours from the company’s composting operation.

606 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato chairman Peter Buckley says he has been impressed by the commitment shown by agricultural sector leaders to better managing farming’s impact on water and soil health in the Waikato.

238 views

TAUPO — Lake Taupo’s pristine water quality will be protected into the future following a landmark decision released by the Environment Court today finding in favour of Environment Waikato’s new rules.

530 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato is welcoming significant fines of more than $60,000 handed out to those responsible for illegal and environmentally damaging earthworks at a 129-hectare dairy conversion near Tokoroa.

997 views

WAIKATO — An independent commissioner has backed an Environment Waikato recommendation that a Rotorua farmer cannot use a steel shipping container as a makeshift stock crossing.

346 views

HAMILTON — Leaders from sectors involved in managing the impact of agriculture on water and soil health in the Waikato are gathering for a summit in Hamilton on Wednesday.

265 views

WAIKATO — Dairy giant Fonterra and Environment Waikato officials have met ahead of next week’s Waikato Agriculture Summit to start developing an agreement about what future environmentally sustainable dairying in the region should look like.

252 views

WAIKATO — Helicopter operations targeting rooks are taking place in Cambridge, Matamata and Mangakino over the coming week.

361 views

HAMILTON — A bumper tui breeding season is expected at Environment Waikato’s Hamilton Halo project sites this spring, thanks to highly successful winter pest control operations.

1,037 views

HAMILTON — Hamilton residents Barry and Dulcie Cowley have been waiting more than 40 years to hear a chorus of tui in their garden – and it’s finally happened.

1,584 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato’s council has today accepted the recommendation of a hearings committee to publicly notify the proposed Variation 6 policy change covering the way water is used in the region.

515 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato’s council is due to decide next week whether to accept the recommendation of a hearings committee that has been looking at the proposed Variation 6 policy change covering the way water is taken and used in the region.

281 views

MORRINSVILLE — The environmental impacts of an acid spill that occurred in Morrinsville yesterday appear to be minor, Environment Waikato says.

488 views

HAMILTON — New Sunday bus services in Hamilton are continuing to prove their popularity in the weeks following their launch on 28 September.

301 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato’s Regional Pest Management Strategy Appeals Hearing Committee has confirmed that feral pigs and deer will not be called “pests”, but that they will still be controlled if found to be damaging important ecological areas.

345 views

RAGLAN — Up to 60,000 possums are estimated to have been killed in a highly successful pest control operation carried out on behalf of Environment Waikato in the Waimai Valley area, north of Raglan.

658 views

WAIKATO — About 40,000 older people in the Waikato are eligible for free travel on off-peak public transport services in the region from today, including on buses in places such as Hamilton and Taupo.

383 views

WAIKATO — Waikato District Council (WDC) has been granted consents enabling it to continue urban stormwater discharges to land, waterways and the sea, provided it complies with a range of new conditions designed to minimise environmental damage caused by the discharges.

418 views

HAMILTON — New Sunday bus services for Hamilton have got off to a strong start this week with 4200 passengers carried on 28 September, compared to 4500 on a normal Saturday when twice as many services run.

351 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato is seeking help from swimmers, boaties, water-skiers and other recreational users of the Waikato region's waterways.

298 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato has appointed Mike Garrett as its new chief financial officer, effective 17 December.

277 views

HAMILTON — Environment Waikato is reminding regular bus users and the general public that Sunday bus services kick-off in Hamilton this weekend, with passengers being offered a chance to trial them free (Sunday 28 September only).

276 views

RAGLAN — Environment Waikato (EW) and Waikato District Council (WDC) commissioners have approved consent applications related to the proposed building of a new bridge and related causeway at Raglan.

1,411 views

Environment Waikato is seeking help from swimmers, boaties, water-skiers and other recreational users of the Waikato region’s waterways.

280 views

RAGLAN — Environment Waikato (EW) and Waikato District Council (WDC) commissioners have approved consent applications related to the proposed building of a new bridge and related causeway at Raglan.

539 views

Acting Environment Waikato chairman John Fisher has announced today the appointment of New Zealander Bob Laing as the regional council’s new chief executive.

1,047 views

HAMILTON — Sunday buses will soon roll out in Hamilton and city residents are being offered a chance to trial them free.

472 views

WAIKATO — Transport Minister Annette King has today been told that the Waikato is doing its bit to get cracking on key regional roading projects.

217 views

WAIKATO — Improving the environmental sustainability of the Waikato’s key agricultural sector is the aim of a major new report on rural soil and water issues produced by Environment Waikato.

410 views

Its the time of year when farmers are generally cultivating their paddocks for next seasons crop or pasture.

439 views

COROMANDEL — Environment Waikato has awarded $19,500 to the Moehau Environment Group (MEG) to help with the conservation of a nationally important Coromandel wetland area.

837 views

WAIKATO —  Ratepayers contributing to the costs of the Waihou and Piako river schemes are to receive letters shortly outlining how a limited review has proposed rating changes that would affect their individual properties.

507 views

WAIKATO — Environment Waikato has awarded $2800 to University of Waikato student Jennifer Nickel for research into the native “pot-belly” seahorse.

282 views

WAIKATO — Stage two of Environment Waikato’s and the Department of Conservation’s ambitious Pirongia-Hauturu possum control project has been highly successful, says a new report to Environment Waikato’s regional pest management committee.

351 views

WAIKATO — By EW sustainable agriculture coordinator Gabriele Kaufler.

491 views

WAIKATO — Use of so-called “sacrifice paddocks” is best avoided and they need particularly careful management if they are used, says Environment Waikato’s sustainable agriculture coordinator Bala Tikkisetty.

439 views

WAIKATO — The new Waikato River co-management agreement involving Waikato-Tainui and other iwi is positive for the health of the river and the wider regional environment, says Environment Waikato chairman Peter Buckley.

422 views

WAIKATO — Pukekawa/Churchill Road, Pukekawa; Murray Road, South of the Tuakau Bridge and Alder Road, Tuakau remain closed to all traffic due to flooding.

420 views

WAIKATO — Waikato farmers would best protect the environment by keeping effluent irrigators switched off until local soils have had a chance to dry out, says sustainable agriculture coordinator Gabriele Kaufler.

489 views

WAIKATO — Three roads are closed in Franklin due to flooding of the Waikato River.

683 views

WAIKATO — There is good news for the rain-soaked Waikato region this week, with finer weather forecast over the next few days – but the worries are not over yet, Environment Waikato says.

556 views

WAIKATO — Waikato Rivers have responded to overnight rain in the region, but falls were not as heavy as expected.

632 views

WAIKATO — Flood models based on the current weather forecast suggest water levels in the lower Waikato and Waipa rivers will not rise as high as last week.

1,078 views

HAMILTON — Hamilton river front houses are still safe from flooding, despite the swollen Waikato River coming under more pressure from overnight rain in the Taupo area.

571 views