Kate Newtown, writing for RNZ: AA Insurance, which has approximately half a million New Zealand customers, wrote to Buller District Mayor Chris Russell at the very end of 2025 to tell him the company would halt new business, home and landlord insurance policies for properties in the 7825 postcode, which
Hayden Donnell, telling it like it is for the Spinoff: During his tenure as transport minister, Brown made it clear that value for money was his top priority in funding decisions and that’s continued under his successor, Chris Bishop. Given that, you’d think cycling investment would stand out
Which year saw the most public transport passengers in Wellington’s history? You might think 2019, before the pandemic put public transport in crisis. Or maybe 2024, as our bus lines benefitted from more dedicated lanes. The answer is 1943. That year, Wellingtonians took over 64 million tram journeys in
If we're serious about solving traffic, this ain't the way to do it.
Add a train, not a lane.
“Petrol prices soar” is a surefire way to catch our attention. What if it lost its power over us?
Living centrally in Wellington offers a first hand experience of what urban planners call the 15 minute city. After falling in love with this lifestyle, I want this option available for far more Wellingtonians.
The sea shapes our identity as New Zealanders. It's warming. Rapidly.
When you travel across Aotearoa, have you noticed the train tracks everywhere? My hometown, Whanganui, has rail weaving through town. It even has a dedicated train bridge in Aramoho. Rail runs along the far north and the deep south. A century ago, people travelled towns and cities by train. Now
Get free insight into climate change from a local perspective.
2025 was a big year in New Zealand’s climate space. There have been good news stories, like the growing number of renewable energy projects in New Zealand. Solar farms, wind farms, and hydro projects are on track to grow our clean energy supply so we can electrify everything and
If we're serious about solving traffic, this ain't the way to do it.
Something I didn't realise until recently was that half of the warming impact of the world's flights comes from non-CO2 related activity.
Rail travel has this old-timey feeling in many parts of New Zealand. Our iconic towns like Shannon and Ohakune owe their existence to their rail connections, yet travelling on tracks rather than tyres or wings feels nostalgic rather than realistic. Despite that feeling, millions of journeys are taken on our
It'll be interesting to see whether it gets off the ground.
A must read article from Connor Sharp, writing for Greater Auckland: ...this government is funnelling millions of dollars to consultants to design frankly unaffordable billion-dollar mega-motorways. Meanwhile, a struggling construction sector faces the ongoing collapse of the pipeline of smaller, smarter projects. This is due largely to one person: Simeon
The house you buy can make low pollution life the easiest (and most fun!) option.
A few weeks ago, we rocked up to our friends' new place. The crew brought kai, congratulated them on the move, gave big hugs, got the tour. For weeks, my friend and I had been planning to conduct an experiment. Immediately after exploring their new place, I asked "
No wonder they published this shameful announcement on a Sunday.
Buying a home is one of the biggest choices you’ll ever make. Bundled in that one decision is a thousand factors that define your life. Your community, your bills, and who you’ll depend on in an emergency. In a changing climate, house buying comes with new risks. Climate
There is a lot of bill slashing technology. Everything was on show at Electrify the Hutt.
Two of my friends rented a flat in Wellington that runs off gas. It cost them a fortune every month. Their energy bills became so expensive that they had to move. They're not alone in feeling the pinch of rising energy prices. The price of power and gas
