A Russian billionaire has been given permission to build a 233m walkway along an untouched Northland coastline to get better access to his fishing boat.

Calls from the public about a mass seal slaughter near Kaikoura are drying up, while the killers remain at large.

A proposal to put the iconic New Chums Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula into public ownership through a private-public deal is being considered by the Department of Conservation.

Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn is calling for Pike River to be made into an opencast coal mine, amid efforts to keep the 114 skilled miners made redundant today on the West Coast.

The second death in two years at a popular marine reserve has prompted calls for lifeguard patrols.

Tiritiri Matangi, a 75-minute ferry ride from central Auckland, is a brilliant conservation success story.

The slaughter of 23 seals on the Kaikoura coast last week has prompted debate on whether seals need to be culled in the area.

DOC says it is yet to receive any "concrete" information on who carried out the brutal clubbing to death of 23 fur seals near Kaikoura.

DoC is following up leads on who carried out the brutal clubbing of 23 fur seals near Kaikoura last week.

The wife of the hunter who killed school teacher Rosemary Ives has made an impassioned plea for the public not to judge him, but says he will accept a prison term if one is imposed.

There would be plenty of mana in customary marine title without the power to exclude the public from sacred sand.