Peoples Times

On Prince William's first trip to New Zealand while he was crawling after buzzy bees, his mother, the the late Princess Diana planted a pohutukawa tree near the Cook Plaza on Gisborne's Titirangi Reserve.

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Cars have taken a back seat as the preferred transport option for pupils travelling to and from Hawea Flat School.

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Motueka cemetery has become the first place in the South Island where natural burials can be performed legally.

See it in full at:www.stuff.co.nz

Rain pouring down in Southland is helping to recharge aquifer levels, says Environment Southland water resources scientist Steven Leddington, announcing that the persistent rainfall had helped recharge all but one of the perilously low aquifers.

A thousand pohutukawa trees are being made available for planting on the Coromandel as part of efforts to get more of the iconic New Zealand trees flowering on the peninsula.

Coromandel Department of Conservation staff were relieved to wake up yesterday morning with no sign of a repeat of Tuesday's pilot whale stranding at Colville Bay.

Environment Waikato is always open to the idea of using pest control methods other than aerially applied 1080 and other toxins, says the council’s biosecurity group manager John Simmons.

Taupo District Council has announced the development of a new garden suburb in Taupo that will provide around 2200 new homes, a wide range of living styles and housing types and benefit Taupo district ratepayers and community for generations to come.

Environment Canterbury has released the Canterbury region dairy report for the 2008/09 season. The report covers Environment Canterbury’s regulation and enforcement activities related to dairy shed effluent and the progress in meeting community outcomes.

Thanks to the tireless work of a heritage-minded community group, track construction of the Gibbston River Trail is making good strides.