The Press

Ferrymead Bays

From a community club to national contenders

City subdivision in limbo

Decisions on approving another subdivision in booming southwest Christchurch are on hold as city councillors question whether enough money is going into parks and cycling and pedestrian routes in the wider area. Local landowning families, under the...

Birds and the bees

Dai Henwood

New Zealand TV star and comedian Dai Henwood has died aged 48 after living with cancer for six years. “It is with a deep sadness that we share the news that Dai Henwood ONZM passed away today,” his management Notorious Comedy posted on social media...

Off to the races

Rain is forecast to make a rare and unwelcome appearance at the 123rd New Zealand Trotting Cup at Addington, as two former Southland schoolmates team up to try to break Australia’s stranglehold on the great race. Addington Raceway & Events chief...

A Baltic Education

Fifty years ago, when I was a young lecturer in political science at the University of Canterbury, I questioned the value of teaching comparative politics courses that were focused almost exclusively on Australia, Britain and the United States. They...

Cup & Show Week

Horse racing, wood chopping and live music are coming together for one of the biggest weeks on Canterbury’s calendar as Cup & Show Week sets to attract tens of thousands of people. Among the Swanndris and heels, three sites in Christchurch will host a...

Sir Lloyd Geering

New Zealand’s oldest man, the controversial theologian Sir Lloyd Geering, pictured, died yesterday. He was famously tried for heresy by the Presbyterian Church in the 1960s after denying the immortality of the soul and the physical resurrection of...

Embracing the elements

Lianne Cox and Graeme Rule’s small coastal garden, The Haven, measures just 128m², but it is full of surprises. Approaching the house up a flight of steps, nothing prepares the visitor for the garden of multiple “rooms”, with a Mediterranean-style...

'Help us find a place'

Residents of a homeless encampment in the red zone have been told there is no alternative place for them to go – and that Christchurch City Council will proceed with plans to move them on by March regardless. But one person living there says simply...

Christchurch residents get votes in early

Close to 326,000 people voted over the weekend, as early voting continues to outpace the last election. The voting data, just released by the Electoral Commission, shows 913,762 people have now voted – or about 24% of the total enrolled...

Passenger rail trial funding secured

The Government has locked in key funding for a one-year passenger rail trial for Christchurch, connecting Rangiora and Rolleston to the central city as early as next year. Yesterday, Rail Minister Winston Peters and Regional Development Minister Shane...

The Canty Ranter

If things had been different, Nigel Hampton KC would have been in Korea this month to deliver a keynote address at an international forum on victims’ rights and the pursuit of justice. They invited him after they heard about his work with Pike River...

Multimedia master

This is no ordinary interview, but one for which I’m more than happy to give up part of my Saturday evening. Most modern-day celebrity video chats involve trying to talk to two, maybe three people about up to eight hours of “content” in potentially...

Campaign trail

It was another day, another baby as Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins visited Christchurch on the campaign trail yesterday. The previous day National’s Nicola Willis was pictured cooing over another infant in the garden city. Hipkins promised to spend...

What’s so funny?

Laura Erland, left, shares a laugh with Mia Kittelson (holding baby Stevie), National Party leader Christopher Luxon and MPS Nicola Willis and Hamish Campbell while visiting the Westfield Riccarton Mall in Christchurch on the hustings yesterday. The...

School fields squeeze

The arrival of four new classrooms at a North Canterbury school will spell the end of the remaining green space for senior students – and reduce a half basketball court to a quarter. New housing developments in Woodend, particularly the 1500-lot...

Space for more funding

The Government wants New Zealand’s space industry to become a nearly $5 billion economic powerhouse by 2030, but the agency responsible for regulating and helping develop the sector has had no increase in its core funding for a decade. An August...

Election tour's last stop

When Mike Keenan voted for the first time in 1969, he voted for prohibition because “it was an interesting word”. He didn’t know what it meant, and got both barrels from his Irish father who owned the Railway Hotel pub in Hokitika. The 77-year-old,...

Gridlock in Chch from bad to worst

Christchurch’s traffic has worsened, the city’s streets remain the most clogged in the country at peak times, and central Government is getting the blame. For several years Christchurch has had New Zealand’s worst rush-hour traffic, and the latest...

A cut above

Next time you crunch on a hot, golden chip, it might be made from Crop78, a New Zealandbred potato challenging the status quo of the global french fry market. Why are french fries called french fries? Apparently, in Belgium’s Meuse Valley, villagers...

Big eco-sanctuary plan for Port Hills

Plans for a large eco-sanctuary in Christchurch’s Port Hills have been revealed. Living Springs has a “doable and practical” plan to create the fenced wildlife refuge, overlooking Lyttelton Harbour/ Whakaraupō. It could cover 220 hectares – about the...

Huge water bill shocks family

A Rolleston mother-of-three says she is worried about how her family will cope with rising water charges after receiving a $527 bill for just 84 days, despite using less water during winter. Nurse Poonam Prethika’s concerns come as a petition urging...

Disgraced ex-accountant linked to new liquidations

Liquidators are once again chasing a disgraced Christchurch accountant, who appears to be living in Australia as debts from several failed companies approach $1 million. Four companies directed by Errol Wayne Bailey, who goes by Wayne, have been...

Mood of the Mainland

Scream queens

As most fans of horror now know – and Scream’s Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) found out to her cost – the hockey-masked Jason Voorhees was not the killer in the original Friday the 13th. Sure, he might have provided the film’s final jump scare and gone...

Street food

On an ordinary Whangārei suburban street, an extraordinary lineup of vegetable garden beds stands on the berm. Anyone can help themselves to what grows there. Ian Page has turned the berm outside his home into a garden full of produce for the...

Herb your enthusiasm

Braydon Hepworth case

Haines said Hepworth was offered support, but would not comment further for privacy reasons. has spoken to several former mission employees and insiders who said there had been a “huge staff exodus” at the mission across different teams in the past...

Mood of the Mainland

So much of the election campaign is focused on Auckland, but what about your views here in the south? The general election is just weeks away, and The Press wants to know what the mood of the mainland is. We’re hitting the road for the next two weeks...

The rise of NZ’s luxury private walks

The scenery is gorgeous, the comforts are many, and the wine can flow freely. Welcome to New Zealand’s private walks. They are not like Department of Conservation huts. Private rooms are available at a price, hot showers are common, snoring less...

This means war

Flower power

One morning recently, I spotted one single vivid-purple petunia flower peeking out from the high wooden boundary fence between my place and the neighbour’s. It looked so cute that I suddenly burst into song. “I’m a lonely little petunia ...” When I...

Canty rocket launch spot poised to become gateway

Canterbury’s rocket launch facility on Kaitōrete Spit could become a space port for Europe’s space industry following research by a French company. The Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre at Kaitōrete and French company say a joint study has confirmed...

Christopher versus Chris

Fiscal integrity and leadership credibility will be top of the agenda when the current prime minister and his predecessor – and would-be successor – face off tonight in the first of three election debates, on state broadcaster TVNZ. The debate at 7pm...

Community of doubters

Researchers have uncovered deep-seated climate science scepticism within one Canterbury high-country farming community. Now they say rebuilding trust between government and farmers will be key to achieving effective climate policy moving forward. In...

Digger

We’re a few years – or maybe 30 – into the future. Earth looks more or less as it does today, unless you start to really notice the details, or try to open a window. In a mansion, somewhere in the American heartland, a man who the world knows as...

Small parties, big issues

They are called the minor parties, but with the main parties neck-and-neck, they will likely wield some major power after the November 7 general election. The Press Kingmaker’s debate in front of a studio audience saw David Seymour (ACT), Winston...

Microclimate collection

Not only do Daryl and Linda Rowan love growing plants, but they also spend their holidays hunting out specimens in remote locations off the usual tourist routes. Last year, the couple visited Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and in 2024 they spent seven...

Lack of iwi history irks

Ngāi Tahu education providers have ‘grave concerns’ about diminished local Māori content being included in the Government’s upcoming curriculum changes, with fears they could ‘undo 40 years of progress’.

Pledge to reverse pay equity changes

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has pledged to quickly reverse changes to the Pay Equity Act if elected, as he concluded a charm offensive in the Garden City with a public meeting. Hipkins spent the day in Christchurch yesterday, meeting students,...

From prison to streets

Wearing the same grey fleece outfit he wore in prison stamped with the code of his unit, a now-free man is dropped off near a bank in Riccarton. It’s late afternoon. He might only have an hour to find Christchurch’s night shelter and hope there is a...

Underutilised

The kids are not all right. They are unoccupied, directionless. Youth unemployment hit 17.3% in March, before slipping to 17.2% in June. Those are the highest rates since the post-global financial crisis days of 2011. Narrow the youth category down...

Merger plans in limbo

Council leaders are questioning what happens next after the Government put merger plans on ice, with some warning the work and millions of dollars already spent could be wasted. The Government announced yesterday it would make no decisions on...

'Like winning Lotto

The $60m trust of a late Christchurch couple has created a new source of funding for 14 organisations, including a model train club, for the foreseeable future. Other recipients include a city high school and Christian radio operator Rhema.

School left to fix old buildings

Christchurch’s largest high school says a promised post-quake rebuild has been abandoned by the Ministry of Education, with 1960s concrete teaching blocks set for demolition now being assessed for refurbishment instead. Burnside High School had been...

Why city’s long-awaited bridge is gold and red

Christchurch’s hard-to-miss new Brougham St bridge is just over a month away from opening – and the “distinctive” red and gold colours are here to stay. The 36-metre pedestrian and cyclist bridge – the first stage of the $150 million SH76 Brougham St...

'Kept in the dark'

Well known and respected following a long career in leadership and governance, former Christchurch City Council senior executive Lynn McClelland now finds herself tackling a personal medical challenge that is testing all of her resilience. Diagnosed...

Arts Centre expanding

It’s a day of big things for Christchurch’s Arts Centre, which is opening the doors to an expansion that includes huge new shop space, artist areas and a French bakery. This comes as the city council proposes giving the Arts Centre and Orana Park a...

From swamp to harvest

Briar Monro moved back to the north from Wellington and bought a sloping horse paddock covered in kikuyu. Its selling point: the view over Whangārei Harbour. In just four years, Monro’s vision and hard work have turned that 0.2-hectare site into an...

Fast-track changes hailed

Changes allowing councils to claw back more infrastructure costs from fast-track developments have been called a “winwin-win” for councils, developers and housing growth, but developers are warning extra charges will boost house prices. The Government...

New concerns for museum

A leaked confidential letter reveals that Canterbury Museum is warning of “severe unintended consequences” tied to the city council’s multimillion-dollar funding package that could delay the project by another 12 months and cost $7.2 million more. The...

Mass school failure tipped

Modelling by a secondary school teachers union shows almost 15,000 students are at risk of failing the new qualification set to replace the NCEA from 2029, in addition to 18,000 who did not achieve under the current system last year. The modelling,...

‘Clear’ mammogram to aggressive cancer

In September last year, Sarah Starkey received an “all clear” text message after a mammogram. Three months later that message was abruptly changed by her GP, with a diagnosis of an aggressive stage 3 breast cancer. As the 48-year-old mum of two young...

Super Round back in Chch next year

Super Rugby Pacific is set to confirm Super Round will return to Christchurch from April 2 to 4 after the festival of rugby proved a wild success when held in the South Island city this year, Stuff revealed exclusively last night. Stuff understands...

Selwyn at centre of surge in confidence

After some of the toughest years in his 24 years in business, a West Melton winery owner says the tide has turned – with his business growing by at least 25% over the past year. “We’re back in growth mode,” said Philip Caunter of Melton Estate. The...

NZ Post rules out change of mind on shop closures

Politicians have criticised the closure of two key NZ Post shops in Christchurch as “daft” and “a kick in the guts”, but one of the bosses of the state-owned service is standing by the decision. “I know it’s change, but I see this as really positive...

Bargain-hunters push up prices

House prices in east Christchurch are rising the fastest in the city, as both home buyers and investors are drawn to the city’s most affordable suburbs. While house values in the past year have risen about 4% across the city as a whole, those in some...

Melbourne's cultural cool

Arriving in Melbourne at the end of winter and on the cusp of spring feels less like entering a city in cosy hibernation and more like stepping into a town lit up in celebration of the cooler months. It’s a city where locals meander the streets after...

Kiwis on brink of retirement sans safety net

New Zealanders nearing retirement with few assets say they’re struggling to find jobs and secure housing – leaving some facing the stark prospect of retiring into poverty. Earlier this week, the Christchurch Methodist Mission handed a petition to the...

Where are all those stadium concerts?

Christchurch’s new multi-purpose stadium has secured two international concerts in its first year of operation – and the operator admits it had hoped for more. “Three stadium concerts in the first year is not as many as we’d hoped,” Venues Ōtautahi...

Big plans for another of the city’s ‘dirty 30’

A $20m renovation of the former State Insurance building on Worcester St in the Christchurch CBD has begun. A rooftop bar and golf simulator are mooted for the ‘dirty 30’ deco heritage structure.

No money for food, power

The number of retirement-aged Kiwis waiting for social housing is rising, as a Christchurch-based provider calls on the Government to act now to prevent a looming crisis. Yesterday, the Christchurch Methodist Mission presented a petition signed by...

Spring TV essentials

TV WEEK

Nearly 13,000 flock to dazzling light show

Thousands of people have visited this year’s biggest light show, with tens of thousands more set to flock to Christchurch’s Illuminate festival. The annual event in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens opened on Friday night, following some setbacks, but...

'Rural feel'

Cousins Geoff Spark and Hannah Williams are behind Rossburn, a planned 270-home development on part of their family farm on the eastern edge of Rangiora. But for the pair, the project is about more than converting paddocks into housing. With Rangiora...

Kiwis among 1300 missing

Five New Zealanders are reported to be among up to 1300 people missing after a disastrous flood involving landslides along the Nepal-china border. It is understood at least some of the Kiwis had been on a religious trek to Tibet. Prime Minister...

Unpaid Gloriavale staff claim $39.4m

Sixty-one former Gloriavale members are seeking almost $40 million compensation for years of unpaid labour, denied employment entitlements, and workplace abuse. The statement of claim filed with the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) in Christchurch...

Action on Airbnbs likely

Christchurch city councillors are eager to clamp down on the city’s Airbnbs, spurred on by a ruling suggesting short-stay accommodation will no longer be tolerated without the right building permit. This month the Ministry of Business, Innovation and...

Future feared if fast track not approved

The closure of Bathurst’s Stockton Mine could have significant consequences for Westport, Buller and the wider West Coast economy, including the loss of hundreds of jobs, a new report finds. Development West Coast commissioned independent economic...

Fire and ice

When I first heard about Elemental – Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa’s new adults-only wellness experience featuring New Zealand’s first snow room – I was not sold on the idea. It didn’t sound relaxing. Stepping into falling snow in the name of...

Say it right The tiny village with the tricky name

Shock Airbnb call

A ruling banning a Christchurch Airbnb unit from offering visitor accommodation is likely to send shockwaves through the short-term rental sector. In a decision that could affect thousands of properties across New Zealand, the Ministry of Business,...

Master of the miniature tree

Steven Yin has always been fascinated by gardening and from a young age was happy to get his hands dirty while indulging his love of horticulture. Yin was born in China and moved to Wellington with his family when he was 10. The family lived in an...

Fire risk could close Port Hills and forest

Authorities are preparing for a prolonged wildfire season that could lead to the closure of parts of Christchurch’s Port Hills and Bottle Lake Forest when the fire risk reaches extreme levels. Christchurch City Council has never closed areas due to...

CCHL to put $300m into port expansion

Extensions to the container port at Lyttelton have been given the final go-ahead, with ratepayer-owned Christchurch City Holdings (CCHL) agreeing to put $300 million of equity into the $821m project. CCHL and subsidiary Lyttelton Port Company (LPC)...