Bay of Plenty Times
Paradise found Pō hutukawa poisoned twice within one year
An “expensive, beautiful” pōhutukawa tree next to a popular waterfront walkway has been poisoned twice in less than a year. The poisoned tree was one of three 3m-high pō hutukawa planted by Tauranga City Council along the harbourfront Beach Rd walkway...
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Driver fights $100 parking fine for drop off
Dropping a friend off at their car became the “most expensive three seconds of my life”, a woman fined $100 for double parking says. Mount Maunganui resident Leticia Emery said she was issued a $100 infringement notice for double parking beside her...
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Call for accountability
Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell says a “huge question mark has to hang over” the future of the council’s chief executive in light of the review into the Mauao tragedy that claimed six lives. “This is a massive problem,” he told Newstalk ZB’s Ryan Bridge...
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27YEARS OF SYSTEMIC FAILURE
Adamning review into the deadly Mount Maunganui landslide has revealed a litany of failures by authorities who missed opportunities to evacuate campers to safety in a disaster that was “preventable”. Six holidaymakers were killed after the slip...
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‘Weathertightness issues’ force moves
More social housing tenants in Tauranga have moved out after “weathertightness problems” were found in a number of homes. Social and disability housing provider Accessible Properties owns two housing complexes off Robins Rd in Judea, Tauranga — nine...
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Pizzeria closes after Mauao slips hit profits
AMount Maunganui business owner has “pulled the plug” on his pizzeria after a recent Mauao slip caused another road closure and restricted customer access. Adams Ave, between Pilot Bay and the Maunganui Rd roundabout, has been temporarily closed since...
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Bay schools battle spike in sickness
The spike in winter illness is being felt in classrooms across the Bay of Plenty, with schools reporting some of their highest absence numbers of the year. Principals say influenza and other respiratory bugs are driving much of the increase, with some...
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Women on Water celebrates 25 years
A sailing programme founded to give women a “foot in the door” is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Tauranga’s Women on Water programme continues to introduce hundreds of women to sailing each year, a quarter of a century after its first race. “The...
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Safety fears rise as city bike riding surges
Tauranga cyclists feel less safe biking on roads and cycle lanes in the city, a council survey shows. It comes as the city works to expand its cycleway network, with major projects on the horizon. The Tauranga City Council annual residents’ survey...
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Council lodges solo unitary bid despite rebuff
[email protected] Tauranga City Council has lodged a solo proposal to create a new unitary authority governing the city and surrounding Western Bay of Plenty District. That was despite Western Bay of Plenty District Council being an...
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Kiwi flees quake zone
Bay of Plenty photographer David Hall has described a terrifying ordeal after being caught in a powerful earthquake that killed more than 100 people in Colombia. Hall and his wife were in the town of Salento, about an hour south of the city of...
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Mass influx of unwanted animals leaves rescuers at breaking point
Bay of Plenty animal rescue groups are struggling to cope with an influx of dumped and unwanted puppies. Vada’s Angels Animal Rescue Trust founder and team manager Kat Thompson said she and her team were “overwhelmed and exhausted” by the flood of...
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100 YEARS OF ZB Courthouse project hit by consent misstep
Part of the new $206 million Tauranga courthouse was constructed without building consent. Construction is under way on a new building for the Tauranga High and District Court on the corner of McLean, Willow, and Monmouth Sts. However, work began on a...
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THAT’S THE TICKET!
AMount Maunganui-headquartered company providing ticketing and booking technology to operators worldwide has been named the Bay of Plenty’s top exporter. Flicket was named Exporter of the Year at the 2026 ASB Bay of Plenty Export Awards, held at...
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Netball spectators to be banned from sideline
Aban on courtside spectators at Tauranga junior netball games has left parents frustrated, disappointed and asking how the decision was made. Tauranga Netball Centre has decided to restrict spectators from the court enclosure during games for the next...
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Bay acts strike right note in Rockquest finals Roaming dogs shake and kill ‘crying’ cat
Two roaming dogs shook a “crying” cat like a “rag doll” in their jaws minutes before it died in its owner’s arms. The owner said she woke to the sound of a distressed cat and growling, and saw two dogs shaking her beloved 10-year-old cat, Shim. The...
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Man left mother, 82, on floor for 14 hours
Aman left his elderly mother lying on the floor for 14 hours after she fell in the home where he was her carer. Unable to get the 82-year-old to her feet, he dragged her from her bedroom to the lounge and ignored her pleas to get help. It was about...
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‘Strength of Pāpāmoa’
Four new national retail stores and a 24-hour gym are coming to Pāpāmoa’s central shopping area. Two of the new tenants moving into the soon-to-be-redeveloped Mitre 10 building next to Fashion Island have been announced. And, across the road at...
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‘Ambitious’ plan to drive up city bus use
Bus lanes allowing cars with three or more people, contactless payment, fare capping, off-peak discounts and traffic-light priority. These are some of the changes being introduced in the Bay of Plenty to encourage more people to use buses and to help...
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‘Heartbroken’
A Pāpāmoa woman grieving the loss of a pet is “heartbroken” after another cat was killed in a suspected roaming dog attack three days later. A neighbour said the cat was “ripped apart” and described the attack as “horrible and shocking”. Vanessa Judd...
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Bird flu cases trigger biosecurity crackdown
Bay of Plenty conservation groups and a poultry supplier are tightening biosecurity measures to safeguard animals after New Zealand’s first confirmed detections of a deadly bird flu strain. A Rotorua-based bird conservation organisation has stopped...
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On the brink of ruin
Matt and Sian du Plessis own a house they cannot live in as it sits on the edge of a yawning, growing hole they cannot afford to repair, all while paying their mortgage. On January 22, 2026, the day tragic landslides hit the Bay of Plenty, the couple...
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More students, more accommodation
An extra 200 students and a 228-bed central-city university accommodation block are part of plans expected to inject up to $20m into the Tauranga economy. A local business and a student leader are welcoming the push to bring more students into the...
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New traffic lights planned for busy intersections
Two new signalised intersections will be installed in Tauriko as part of the Tauriko Enabling Works project. In a Facebook post, New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi said traffic lights will be installed at two intersections of State Highway 29...
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‘Strongest in modern history’
One of the “strongest” El Nino events on record could be heading New Zealand’s way, bringing a hotter, windier and drier spring for the Bay of Plenty. Forecasters say strong westerly winds, reduced rainfall and periods of unusually “spiky”...
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Why waitlist message alarmed doctors
Aexpectation from hospital management that Tauranga physicians give certain specialist appointments to “long-wait” patients has alarmed doctors. One physician said patients should always be seen based on clinical need, and she was concerned the...
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‘CONSTANT STREAM OF HOONS’
Businesses say Birch Ave racing is escalating, with signs smashed and plates unreadable ‘Hoons” doing burnouts and skidding vehicles on water main covers or fast-food trays are damaging a Tauranga street, a fed-up businessman says. Bryce Cole, chief...
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Hapū seeks $475m over port expansion plan
Ahapū and marae seeking for the Port of Tauranga’s expansion bid to be declined say compensation of up to $475 million should be required if the project goes ahead. It is the latest instalment in the ongoing conflict between Ngāti Kuku and the Port of...
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REVVED UP
Tauranga-based Ubco is revving up its comeback with a series of major new contracts for its electric motorbikes. The initial incarnation of the company collapsed in January 2025, owing $35.7 million. In July the same year, jobs were saved as a trio of...
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Regions’ top-grossing speed cameras
Aspeed camera with one of the Bay of Plenty and Waikato’s highest fine tallies is offline after being vandalised. The State Highway 29 spot speed camera has snapped thousands of speeders from its perch at Te Poi, on the Waikato side of the Kaimai...
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‘Bloody tough’
Mount Maunganui’s surf lifesaving clubhouse is no longer under a red placard, but the building’s future remains “in limbo”. The multimillion-dollar clubhouse was one of four properties deemed unsafe under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act...
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‘Out of options’
Twelve years ago, Tauranga dancer Maria Wortman-Dabrowska was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (blood cancer). For years, her treatments were successful. Now she has relapsed and is “out of options”. The 56-year-old is eyeing a $200,000 trip overseas...
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DRAMA QUEEN
Madeleine Sami’s new role on The Traitors was meant to be filled by Paul Henry. However, as she tells Mitchell Hageman, there are (at least) two things she has that the controversial former host does not. CHOWING DOWN ON glutenfree Weet-Bix in a small...
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Man allegedly shot dead over drug debt
Warning: This story deals with details of a violent death and may be distressing. ATauranga man was allegedly shot dead in an “execution-style” single shot to the chest, “all for a debt owed in the terrible cycle of feeding an addiction to...
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We’ll ‘get in and get out as quickly as we can’
Construction of two major roading projects on Tauranga commuter routes are set to overlap – but the council says it is working to minimise disruption. The $185 million stage two of the Cameron Rd upgrade is expected to start in 2028 and finish in...
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City traders struggle as sales slump
Tauranga CBD hospitality businesses are fighting an “uphill battle” as costs rise, people spend less, and margins are “extremely tight”. Two owners and two sector representatives have spoken about the challenges, with one local trader saying sales have...
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PLUS: PUZZLES EXTRA! Kiwifruit pioneer earns King’s honour
Two-thirds of New Zealand’s kiwifruit comes from varieties developed by Te Puke scientist Russell Lowe – now an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Lowe has been named in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours for services to horticulture and the...
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Safety fears grow over Wairoa Bridge cycleway
Aregular Wairoa Bridge cycleway user has likened riding on State Highway 2 to having a “death wish”. However, with the cycleway closed, this 90km/h stretch of road is now the only direct link for cyclists between Te Puna and Bethlehem. The Wairoa...
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FIND Out wHAt’s ON tHIs LONG wEEKEND Long days travelling for dialysis nearly broke her . . Now she has hope .
For three months, Tauranga mother Tui Penman woke at 5am three days each week to go to Waikato Hospital. The 47-year-old has chronic kidney disease, requiring a four-hour haemodialysis session every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Penman said Tauranga...
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Popular market fights frequency reduction
Organisers of a longrunning market series are opposing council plans to reduce their summer bookings for Mount Maunganui’s Coronation Park. The Little Big Markets have the backing of a local business owner who says the events attract people to the...
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$30k rise in five years
Aproposed 7.3% increase to Tauranga’s citywide development contributions will mean the cost for a new three-bedroom home has increased by more than $30,000 in five years if confirmed. Urban Task Force (UTF), a local property industry advocacy group,...
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‘I cried, I cried, I cried’
On the last day of his life, Ramandeep Dhillon spent time with his wife and their toddler, who has inherited his smile. Then, on Wednesday the week before last, he left home for his shift as an Uber driver. He never returned. About 7.15pm, the Pāpāmoa...
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