Bay of Plenty Times
COST OF LIVING: ‘How on earth are people getting by?’
People who have never needed foodbank support are increasingly seeking help as Tauranga families with cost-of-living grapple pressures. It has prompted the Tauranga Community Foodbank to launch Kai Now, a programme to reach those falling through the...
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‘Everyone has felt this’ Mount’s lifeguards return home after 240 days ‘He had so much love to give’
Family, friends and a community of car lovers are remembering a Tauranga father and son killed in a truck and car crash last Wednesday. Mike Kavanaugh, 41, and his son Phoenix, 8, died in the crash on State Highway 29 near Karā piro. Police said...
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Cause of ‘disgusting’
The cause of a foul odour that wafted over Pāpāmoa and Arataki from the Te Maunga Wastewater Treatment Plant in June will remain a mystery. At the end of June, residents in the area took to social media describing the odour as “super disgusting”,...
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Holiday parks review hazard risks Campgrounds assess safety plans after deadly Mauao landslide
Holiday parks nationwide are reviewing their natural hazard plans after the deadly landslide into a Mount Maunganui campground. Six holidaymakers died when a section of Mauao collapsed into Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park, owned by Tauranga City...
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New Zealand Media Council
The Bay of Plenty Times is subject to NZ Media Council procedures. A complaint must first be directed in writing, within one month of publication, to [email protected]. nz email address. If not satisfied with the response, the complaint...
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What National’s international visitor levy plan could mean for Tauranga
Tauranga City Council could receive about $866,000 in the first year of a proposed National Party scheme to share international visitor levy revenue with councils. Tauranga and the Western Bay together could receive about $1m. National says it would...
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Survey: Harm of ban would outweigh benefits
Astudent-led survey of nearly 600 students has found most oppose the Government’s proposed social media ban for under-16s. Respondents argued that platforms play an important role in communication, connection and support. The survey, conducted by...
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EMERGENCY declared by nurses
demand has become our daily reality.” It said staff were being asked to manage increasing patient numbers with “inadequate resources”, the risks of which were “no longer theoretical”. The letter said a patient collapsed in an ED waiting room toilet...
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Councils back toll plan
Councils in and around New Zealand’s most-tolled city, Tauranga, are backing an idea to receive a share of tolling revenue to put towards wear on local roads. Parliament is considering legislation that would allow toll revenue to be used to maintain...
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‘Patients in corridors 24/7’
Adoctor says “double” the number of Emergency Department beds are needed in Tauranga Hospital as patients are “in corridors 24/7”. Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) union member Dr Deborah Moore said more beds were needed to keep up...
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Kaimai highway to shut for night works
The Bay of Plenty’s unemployment rate has dropped, but it is still among the highest in the country. Stats NZ figures show the Bay of Plenty recorded an unemployment rate of 5.8% in the June quarter – down from 7.2% in the March quarter, which was the...
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GUILTY VERDICT
WARNING: This story mentions sexual abuse. Rachael Eddy has been found guilty of murdering her “best mate”, Ross Kennedy, in Tauranga’s Gate Pā Reserve. The jury returned its verdict in the High Court at Rotorua yesterday after a short...
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MOUNT MAUNGANUI LANDSLIDE Councillor forced to use supervised room for files
Baytimes
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Notorious roundabout to get safety upgrade
ATauranga roundabout will get safety improvements after nearly three dozen crashes in six years. But a resident who has had to fix his fence four times is “somewhat sceptical” that the changes will make any difference. There have been 32 crashes at...
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‘Take the punt’
Eight years ago, Flicket’s founders thought they were building a simple ticketing tool for a handful of local events. The Mount Maunganui-based company is now an awardwinning exporter and a “major player” in the global events industry, powering events...
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‘An experiment that went terribly wrong’
For some schools, open-plan classrooms were an experiment that failed. For others, they’re still the future. In August, the Government announced a further $31.3 million to help nearly 90 schools create calmer, less disruptive learning spaces by...
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Expert flags council’s dual Mauao role
Tauranga City Council’s dual role as campground owner and regulator created a conflict of interest in managing risk, a local government expert believes. The council says it has a policy for managing conflicts of interest and systems for regulating its...
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The $9m event that transforms Tauranga
It's bigger than the Olympics and worth millions to the Bay of Plenty economy. As nearly 30,000 people converge on Tauranga for the Zespri Aims Games at the end of this week, organisers say the event has grown into more than a sporting...
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Heat goes on senior staff after slip failures
Councillors hammered senior Tauranga City Council staff with questions in a meeting to discuss a highly critical review that found the Mount Maunganui landslide tragedy was preventable. Councillors formally accepted the findings and recommendations of...
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Accused: Man died after she sat on him
Awoman defending a murder charge told police she sat on a man through a tent until he stopped moving, a High Court jury has been told. The Crown alleges Rachael Anne Eddy, 51, murdered her long-time friend, who was also homeless, Ross Kennedy, 63,...
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‘The tree has to go’ Ex-mayor defends bid to remove protected pine
Anearly 150-year-old protected tree on an exmayor’s property faces the axe after Tauranga City Council ordered it felled under emergency powers. The Bunya Bunya pine at 167 Grange Rd, Ō tū moetai, is listed on the council’s Notable Trees Register....
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But city’s housing market is ‘better than before’ for locals
Tauranga is still New Zealand’s least affordable main centre, but it’s getting better. Housing has become more affordable compared with the city’s recent history, with property prices, mortgage costs and time needed to save a deposit all improving from...
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Professor calls for independent monitoring of Tauranga City Council following review into deadly Mount Maunganui landslide
Aprofessor whose wife was killed in the CTV building collapse in Christchurch has written to the Prime Minister calling for independent oversight of the Tauranga City Council after the damning review of the deadly Mount Maunganui landslide. In a...
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‘We need to flush this down the dunny’
The fate of a “dodgy old toilet” controversially installed in a small Bay of Plenty reserve has been decided after a year-long saga. The single unisex public toilet in Omokoroa’s ¯ Precious Family Reserve was installed amid a protest in June last...
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Peptide ‘wave coming’
Aconcerning trend of teenage boys importing unregulated injectable supplements to improve their appearance has alarmed some Bay of Plenty educators. College principals and an eating disorder expert have shared their concerns about boys turning to...
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Disruptive behaviour in classrooms on the rise Roche: It’ll ‘make my life smaller’
Mount Maunganui’s Stacey Roche says she is “dependent on people to be independent”. The former Paralympian, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, receives funding from the Government’s Disability Support Services (DSS) and employs support...
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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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