1XX POSTS

Despite greenwaste bins being intended for food scraps and garden waste, Whakatāne District Council has been finding a range of unsuitable and even hazardous items dumped in them. With nappies, mattress foam, spray paint cans, tarpaulins, garden hoses, and bags of general rubbish being just some of the miscellaneous items reported.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and New Zealand Food Safety have issued an urgent public health warning advising people not to collect or consume shellfish from the Bay of Plenty coastline, specifically from Whakatāne to Mount Maunganui.

This month the Papamoa East Interchange will be hitting a major milestone, as crews lift 12 concrete beams to help form connections across the Tauranga Eastern Link Toll Road.

It was an unusually warm July around the Eastern Bay of Plenty, with Earth Sciences New Zealand releasing new seasonal statistics that highlight the trend.

The sunny Bay of Plenty has been chosen as the next location to host the world’s top athletes, with Tauranga set to stage a series of World Triathlon events over the next three years.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council has released its final list of candidates for the upcoming local body elections in October 2025.

Public consultation is now open on the NZ Transport Agency’s (NZTA) proposal to introduce a second tolling point on the State Highway 2 Tauranga Eastern Link.

Transport links between the Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki districts were officially restored at 9am this morning, following major disruptions caused by recent flooding.

Bay of Plenty residents have come to together to break records after raising $56,285 for the Philips Search and Rescue Trust as part of the 2025 Westpac Chopper Appeal.

Riverside Whakatāne Holiday Park has taken home the 2025 Emerging Star Award at the Holiday Parks New Zealand (HPNZ) Conference, a key event celebrating excellence in the country’s holiday park sector.

This year’s theme for World Drowning Prevention Day encourages New Zealanders to share their personal stories in the hope of saving someone else’s life.

According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s latest Homelessness Outlook, an estimated 5.7% of the Bay of Plenty population is experiencing some form of homelessness.

Eastern Bay local Lara Longney has been awarded a $10,000 scholarship to support her studies in electrical and electronic engineering, thanks to Trust Horizon and the Aruhiko Power Engineering Excellence Trust (PEET).

With August and Daffodil Day fast approaching, the Cancer Society is putting out a call for more volunteers across the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

With food prices continuing to rise, the organisation Love Food Hate Waste is offering practical tips to help Eastern Bay residents save on groceries.

The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has just released its June property report, highlighting a positive trend for first home buyers across the Bay of Plenty.

Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford and Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell have announced that Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology will return to regional governance from 1 January 2026.

The Motu Trails Charitable Trust maintenance team can now clear over 30km of track up to 40% faster, thanks to a $4,782 grant from Trust Horizon.

For the second year running, the Ōpōtiki Matariki Festival has been named a finalist in the prestigious New Zealand Events Association (NZEA) Event Awards.

Earth Sciences New Zealand’s Seasonal Climate Outlook for July to September forecasts a wetter and warmer second half of 2025 for the Bay.