The mayor of New Plymouth has taken personal responsibility for a "typo" that could've cost his council $20 million in lost revenue.

A woman is in custody after the body of a newborn baby was discovered in a wheelie bin in Auckland's Freeman's Bay overnight.

Residents in Brooklyn are being urged to evacuate immediately as the region braces for a new round of heavy rain.

They're turning off hot water cylinders for days, heading to bed as soon as it is dark and eating tinned food cold to keep the lights on, Age Concern says.

A teenage dog owner is "blown away" after her 8-year-old pooch was miraculously saved from a drainpipe full of water.

There have been 22 arrests so far and the Manawatū Area Commander says there will be more.

Helen Gregory, 79, was killed in January last year, and her daughter Julia DeLuney is on trial for her murder at the High Court in Wellington.

Nobby Clark's deputy said the news came as a shock, but the mayor was doing well and intended to return to work next week.

Bluebridge's Livia has sailed from Europe and is about to arrive in the capital.

A Banks Peninsula residents' group has renewed calls to scrap council plans for a wastewater plant in the Akaroa township, following a cost blowout.

Two North Island detectives will lead a third "full and fresh" investigation into the death of Gore preschooler Lachlan Jones.

Police say it could lead to a fatal accident, and they would take a "hard line" with any scrap yards who receive the stolen materials.

NIWA's manager for climate, atmosphere, and hazards says merging with MetService and GNS will create a more efficient and integrated weather prediction system.

A coroner wants medicine dispensing records centralised after he found a mistake with a morphine prescription may have contributed to a Levin woman's death.

Residents from Auckland to Tasman face downpours, with the flood-hit South Island regions bracing for a 'worst-case scenario'.

A body was found by police on Tuesday night.