Taranaki Daily News

Deputy mayor defends handling of NPDC meeting

It has caused division in council ranks but New Plymouth deputy mayor Murray Chong has defended his handling of a controversial speaker peddling falsehoods about Māori land confiscations at a committee meeting he chaired. Chong has come under fire for...

Rental prices ease while supply rises

Taranaki appears to have emerged from its years-long rental crisis with a glut of properties on the market as prospective tenants become more picky and slower to sign on the dotted line. New data from realestate.co.nz showed rental listings in...

Tiny house to meet big need

Getting the tiny house into its new home was the easy part. Backing the big truck out is where the skill came in. Yesterday a granny flat completed its long journey from Kerikeri to St John the Baptist Anglican Church in Waitara. While the truck...

First test for fresh coach

New Taranaki Airs basketball coach John White has a few nerves going into the side’s first game tomorrow but he’s confident they’ll meet the region’s expectations.

ONE STEP, FIVE BENEFITS: Why this new SPF is a busy peron’s best friend

If you’ve ever looked at a 10-step skincare routine and thought, love the idea, simply don’t have the time, you’re not alone. Between work, school drop-offs, getting to the gym or just getting out the door, the ‘perfect’ morning routine can feel like...

New home for Bev’s bike

A famous bicycle built for two has brought back wind-in-the-hair memories of motorcycling and a chance to make new ones for a Hāwera mum and daughter. In 2022, New Plymouth couple Kev and Bev Harvey made headlines with their e-bike-powered wheelchair,...

Bowl facing tough gig to attract big acts

The nights of world-famous headline acts such as Fleetwood Mac and Sir Elton John performing at New Plymouth’s beloved Bowl of Brooklands could be over for the once-popular venue. New Plymouth District Council event attraction and business development...

Uncertainty ends for Witt

The region’s economic development agency has hailed the Government’s decision to allow Taranaki’s polytechnic to operate independently as a vital step towards ensuring the skilled workforce essential for the region’s future. On Tuesday, the Government...

Ex-rugby player takes on garlic

After years of chasing tries around the world, former Taranaki rep Bryce Robins is now chasing something a bit different, the perfect clove of garlic. Eight months into co-owning Longridge, a garlic processing business in Bell Block, Robins was...

Stationery salesman moves on

Even after more than 50 years selling office supplies, Ross Phillips still remembers the buzz when he sold five flash calculators on his first day out on the road. It was April 1981. Although the Rennet Company in Eltham was not on his customer list,...

School helps pump economy

The boss of the privately run Green School claims it has contributed about $93 million to the Taranaki economy since first opening its doors six years ago. While no formal economic assessment report had been commissioned recently, Green School New...

Murdoch Street, Hāwera

Murdoch St snakes its way from Murray Ave to Rata St in Hāwera. The road was formed in the middle of the 1970s and named after John Bryson Murdoch, a long-serving chairman of the Hāwera County Council. His father emigrated from Ayrshire, Scotland, to...

Phoenix’s rising stars up first for Western

A Taranaki football club will compete on the national stage with New Plymouth’s FC Western set to play their first Central League match this weekend. And it’s going to be a tough one. They will travel to Hutt Valley to play the Wellington Phoenix...

The cereal medallists of Taranaki

A couple of laps around their school field was all that was needed for schoolmates Flynn Semenoff and Fletcher Elliot to prepare for the Weet-bix Tryathlon. The two 9-year-olds from St Joseph’s School were among about 1400 Taranaki children who took...

Neil Barnes gets ABS job

Taranaki Rugby boss Jimmy Fastier has confirmed the union will head to the market to find a new head coach after Neil Barnes elevation to senior assistant coach of the All Blacks yesterday. News of Barnes’ promotion came as little surprise, with many...

All the fun in the autumn sun

For Dane van Greunen, the past month has been the kind of late-summer run surfers dream about. The South African-born surfing instructor, who runs Foam Dogz Surf School in New Plymouth, has been riding a wave of perfect conditions while teaching...

Answers sought for Kāinga Ora renovation eviction

All 64-year-old grandmother Jenny Mills wants to stay in the Kāinga Ora home she has lived in for 18 years, but she will soon be forced out and barred from returning so the New Plymouth property can be renovated. Mills has lived in the property since...

Rising fuel prices hit households

The bombs, missiles and drones are falling half a world away, but the fallout from the conflict in the Middle East is already hitting those in Taranaki who can least afford it. Jocelyn Merwood, the manager of the New Plymouth Budget Advisory Service,...

A strike with colour and fun

Nurses at Taranaki’s public hospitals are trading their uniform scrubs for colourful ones in a ‘visibility strike’ to raise awareness about an ‘unsafe staffing crisis’ they want the Government to fix.

New tune for piano business

Sales of homes worth $2 million or more are no longer an anomaly in parts of regional New Zealand, where seven-figure sales are on the rise. This year Feilding had its first $2m sale, as did Whanganui. In the past six months, six properties have sold...

Driven to buy electric cars

Surging fuel prices are hitting Taranaki, causing a spike in electric car sales as transport and farming leaders warn of flow on costs through the region’s economy. Petrol in Taranaki has climbed above $3 a litre, up from around $2.50 two weeks ago,...

New speed is not the limit

After years of lobbying, a dangerous New Plymouth intersection is finally slowing down, but campaigners say the fight for safer roads isn’t over. From today, the speed limit around the intersection of State Highway 3 and Egmont Rd, opposite the New...

Every meal is agony for teen

A Stratford mother says she is at her wits end after a years-long struggle to secure life-changing surgery for her teenage son simply so he can eat without pain. Jesse Hereora, 17, (Ngā Puhi) lives with median arcuate ligament syndrome (Mals), a rare...

Preserving motorsport history

In a New Plymouth motorcycle workshop in the early 1960s, Johnny Callender was solving a problem most people didn’t know existed. Farmers were constantly dragging their heavy road bikes into his shop, asking for modifications that could survive the...

Ex-mayor issues warning

New Plymouth’s bid to lead council reorganisation in the region is being slammed by a former South Taranaki mayor as a reckless move that threatens to sink local government reform. New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) mayor Max Brough announced last...

Spinning his way to Guinness World Record

A globe-trotting unicyclist knew he was home when he rode over the Waitōtara River on his way up New Zealand in a world record attempt. Stratford man Norman Joe is attempting to secure a place in the Guinness World Record book by travelling 29,000km...

Op shop’s ball season mission

A north Taranaki charity wants to take the cost factor out of ball season for secondary-schoolers, so everyone has a chance to glam up for the occasion without breaking the bank. Alice Haworth, manager of Thrive by Northpoint second-hand store in Bell...

Final failure

New Zealand’s latest quest to land a men’s white-ball World Cup crown fell flat in Ahmedabad. The Black Caps were pummeled by 96 runs by India in the 2026 T20 final yesterday. The home side put on 92 without loss in the six-over power play after...

Mum’s recipe sparks a business

As if being an 8-year-old with type 1 diabetes isn’t hard enough, Eleanor Shaw also has to deal with the pain of ripping medical adhesive off her skin. Every 10 days, a new sensor. Every three days, a new pump site. For Eleanor that adds up to...

TRC boss to also be chief of NPDC

Local body amalgamation in Taranaki has effectively started after it was announced Taranaki Regional Council boss Steve Ruru will also be the new interim chief executive of the New Plymouth District Council. With the largest reforms in local...

Wake up with veteran pair

Further competition has emerged in Taranaki’s already challenging radio market, with two veteran broadcasters launching their own local breakfast show. Access Radio Taranaki general manager Tracey Blake and former New Plymouth District councillor...

Interim NPDC boss imminent

An interim chief executive is expected to be named within days to take over the helm at the New Plymouth District Council. Council went behind closed doors at its extraordinary meeting yesterday to discuss the appointment of a replacement for outgoing...

Creaming it in 52 flavours

Peita Kensington has so far got her personal challenge to make 52 new ice cream flavours in 2026 licked. The sole owner of Little Liberty Creamery for the past two years, after first buying into the Inglewood business in 2022, had been looking for a...

Strikes signal new era: expat

The expat Iranian owner of a New Plymouth cafe is celebrating the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in air attacks by the United States and Israel, and is looking forward to a free Iran. Manou Kia said he was “so happy”, and expected the...

Otago, one pedal at a time

‘So you guys cycle a lot in Auckland?” asks the lovely Mandy from Schist Rock Lodge, where we are resting our delicate backsides on night two of the Otago Central Rail Trail. I feel quite proud that we must look the part in our borrowed cycle gear....

Campaigner: Police letting victims down

A man campaigning for tougher sentences for coward punch killers believes police are continuing to fail victims through poor investigations. Former detective TeUraura Nganeko, who lost his son Daniel to a coward punch in July, believed the latest case...

March against moveon orders planned

An advocate for New Plymouth’s rough sleepers is organising a protest against proposed police powers that would give them the authority to move on rough sleepers in public spaces. Lani Hunt, who was once homeless, and now regularly provides meals to...

AB pioneer to get headstone

A team looking for the graves of All Blacks with service records has discovered the final resting place of New Zealand’s first All Black James Allan. Known as the “Taieri Giant”, Allan died in 1934 and was buried in an unmarked grave at Hāwera...

Americarna set to take over Taranaki’s roads

You probably wouldn’t need many clues to know why Christine Jujnovich was in New Plymouth yesterday. Decked out in red, white and blue from head to toe, and down to her fingertips, the Whangārei woman certainly stood out, even in a car park dedicated...

No tears, just lots of courage

Taranaki film-maker Lisa Burd’s latest documentary No Tears on the Field celebrates sisterhood and courageous women, using rugby as the backdrop, not the headline act.

$40m boost for aged care

A plan to invest in the redevelopment of a Hāwera rest home is motivated by a charitable legacy of taking care of the community. Trinity Home and Hospital Charitable Trust runs the Pūriri St facility, where an expansion project with an estimated...

Pukekura Park faces uncertain future

For decades, Pukekura Park was the beating heart of cricket in Taranaki. The small, picturesque ground, framed by steep terraces and native bush, was a place where the roar of the crowd matched the intensity on the field, whether it was an...

Prized shield returns

History will come alive in Inglewood today when the high school’s head boy and girl, Carter Lucinsky and Teegan Leake, open the school’s athletic day carrying a historical shield atop a replica Roman chariot.

How Mike changed the weather

At the end of last year, Mike Brooke noticed the temperature for New Plymouth shown on TVNZ was colder than would be expected on what had been a notably hot day. He immediately wondered if TVNZ had reverted to taking the temperature from New Plymouth...

For the love of leather

Two decades ago, Layla Cann began a love affair with leather. Now her Citizen Leather shop in Ōpunake is busier than ever turning old things into new treasures.

Vintage restoration revs up

For more than half a lifetime, Phil Brown has been working off and on to restore his dead brother’s car – but it’s taken an appearance on TV to get it cracking into top gear. The 85-year-old, who lives in Ōpunake, is rebuilding a rare 1935 Chrysler...

Gate closing, new life opens

An artistic coastal couple have shifted from cows to creativity, and launched a whole new way of life. Shawn and Rhonda Crawford recently opened Back Door Distillery in a historical building on Ōpunake’s main street, where Shawn creates artisan gins...

Iwi has ‘no comment’ on lodge

If and when a multimillion-dollar lodge on Taranaki Maunga is completed remains a tightly guarded secret as its iwi owners refuse to comment about its future. Work on Te Rere o Kapuni Lodge, owned by South Taranaki iwi Ngāruahine and with an estimated...

Speed cut approved at last

A years-long campaign to get the speed limit reduced at a notorious New Plymouth intersection has finally paid off. NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) announced yesterday it was reducing the 80kph speed limit to 60kph on a 900-metre stretch of...

Girl’s death spurs safety calls

Tilly Mae Cambie is remembered by her parents as a “sparkly” girl with a cheeky grin. “If mandatory safety regulations had been in place, Tilly would still be with us today,” her mother Courtney Cambie said. On the early morning of New Year’s Day...

Biggest project in decades

Details about a new liquefied natural gas terminal soon to be built in Taranaki remain uncertain, but it could become one of New Zealand’s largest energy projects in decades. On Monday, Energy Minister Simon Watts announced a new liquefied natural gas...

LNG terminal for Taranaki

Taranaki local government leaders have welcomed news a multimillion-dollar liquefied natural gas import facility is to be built in the region. Yesterday, Energy Minister Simon Watts announced a contract was expected to be signed by the middle of the...

Congestion worsening

Little more than a decade after the bridge over the Waiwhakaiho River was widened to ease congestion between New Plymouth and Bell Block, traffic is once again banking up – and community leaders are warning it will only get worse. Puketapu-bell Block...

Waitangi Day commemorated around Taranaki

A chance for people to come together to connect was the theme of Waitangi Day commemorations in Taranaki this year. Hundreds of people flocked to Waitangi ki Whaitara yesterday for the day-long programme packed full of live entertainment and...

▮ Heckles and boos greet politicians,

“Did you bring the KFC?” Prime Minister Christoper Luxon faced heckles as he spoke yesterday at Waitangi’s Treaty Grounds, where he said the nation could “manage our differences without tearing the house down”. Luxon, using cue cards, said the...

Familiar beat for new boss

After more than three decades policing some of New Zealand’s busiest and most high-risk environments, Inspector Mark Miller is returning to his roots as Taranaki’s new area commander. Miller started on Monday and replaced previous commander Belinda...

Rubber dividers to be tested

Plans to replace controversial cycle lane separators along a busy inner-city corridor have been revealed by New Plymouth mayor Max Brough. Details of a trial, approved by the New Plymouth District Council in December, came to light when Brough...

Katsu and karaage, with side of waves

When Kenji Hiyama decided on the menu for his food truck, he had to change the dishes slightly to appeal to Kiwi taste buds. Hiyama – along with his wife Mayami and daughter Cocone, 13 – takes his food truck Cocozo to markets around the maunga. His...

Sale marks end of long ride

Derek Hosking shut the doors of his business for the last time on Friday and packed 10 boxes into his car. The cardboard boxes were full of the treasures he is keeping after owning the New Plymouth Motorcycle Centre for a whopping 56 years. He has...

When Pātea was the big cheese

Pātea was once the largest cheeseexporting port on Earth. The South Taranaki Shipping Company handled around 200,000 crates of cheese a year in the 1920s with three ships working full-time to transport it all. This image shows horse-drawn carts...

Councillors reject Chong

An attempt by a rookie councillor to get New Plymouth deputy mayor Murray Chong promoted onto a senior council committee has fallen spectacularly short. First-term councillor Damon Fox grabbed an opportunity during yesterday’s council meeting to...

A field fit for Fidos

When Jane Leak opened her dog park near Lepperton last year, she had visions of a handful of customers each week. But business has boomed – with dogs coming from as far as Whanganui for a visit and a frolic.

One plant’s plentiful tomatoes

Assessments to be carried out at local campgrounds

Inspections are being carried out at Taranaki’s seaside campgrounds, with engineers checking slopes and cliff faces following the Mount Maunganui landslide. A number of campgrounds in Taranaki, including those in New Plymouth, Ōakura and Ōpunake are...

Long-term gas supply crucial

Long-term gas supply will be needed for decades to keep New Zealand’s energy system running despite supplies tightening, the chief executive of a well-established energy company says. Todd Energy boss Mark Macfarlane made the comments in a Taranaki...

Post-section rounds men’s open fours bowls games

TOURNAMENT The wretched run of weather this week forced players competing in this year’s Devon Hotel Taranaki men’s open fours into abridged, 18 end games on the first day of post section play yesterday. After 94 sides secured the revised three wins...

Mayor calls for interim CEO

New Plymouth District Council could have an interim boss for up to a year after the sudden resignation of chief executive Gareth Green just before Christmas. That scenario will be put before the council on Thursday at its first meeting of the year and...

Veteran coach back for more

Veteran Taranaki rugby coach Neil Barnes has some unfinished business. At a time when provincial rugby unions are screaming out for experienced coaches to help develop the next crop of players, Taranaki have agreed terms with Barnes, who will rack up...

Couple must pay $488,219 after losing court battle

A Taranaki couple have been told to pay $488,219 in rates they have refused to pay for five years. Warren and Claire Bolton owned a 24-hectare block of farmland at Bell Block, near New Plymouth. The land was part of a 32.5ha block they bought in...

More than one trick

Best known for their performances in the diverse fantasy worlds of Westeros and The White Lotus, Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson have combined for a project set somewhere far less glamorous or dragon-filled. Yes, mid-1970s Moscow (replicated in...

Helping others one step at a time HEALTH

A New Plymouth man is set to walk nearly 800 kilometres to Cape Reinga to raise awareness for mental health. Oli Berndt, 36, will begin his journey on Friday, aiming to complete the trek in under 14 days, averaging around 70km a day, while hoping to...

Hanging up the pumps after 75 years

A long-standing landmark of Ōakura’s main street will close this month, marking the end of 75 years of a family-run business. BP Ōakura – which operates as Heydon Priest Limited and was founded during the late 1940s by Ashley “Ash” Heydon and his wife...

Bus stop plans spark confusion

New Plymouth residents are being asked for feedback on the proposed placement of new bus stops despite new bus routes not being released until March. The new bus routes start on April 1 along with the region’s new public transport brand, Te Pahi, and...

Taranaki surfer wins titles

Taranaki surfer Izaro Williamson Sasia left the National Surfing Championships almost lost for words after pulling off an historic double victory. At just 14, the Sacred Heart Girls’ College student won both the under-18 and open women’s longboard...

Going north - head south

Holidaymakers, music lovers and anyone else planning to travel north from New Plymouth face a lengthy detour when a significant part of State Highway 3 closes for five days starting on Friday. New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) will close...