https://www.tematapihi.govt.nz/ is the website.

I’ve had a quick poke around, lots of animations that are slow to load, very flashy website, doesn’t seem very well adapted to mobile. Pretty annoying to navigate, to be honest.

Thousands queued up outside the Wellington Central Library Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui on Saturday as it reopened for the first time in seven years.

The building had been closed since March 2019, due to earthquake risk, with pop-up libraries in the city in the interim, while it underwent a $217 million makeover.

Sewing machines, 3D printers and a taniwha slide sit among the hundreds of thousands of books inside the freshly refurbished five-storey library.

The original library opened in 1991 – when it was also given the name Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, which translates to ‘the window to the wider world’.

It has been closed since March 2019 after a seismic assessment found it was a threat to life if a serious earthquake occurred. It has now had a $217.6 million makeover. While much of the shell of the original award-winning library remains, many of its concrete walls have been removed, bringing in more natural light.

The library will reopen on Saturday, 14 March.

Transmission Gully will move to a 110km/h speed limit from next week.

“Since opening in 2022, Transmission Gully has recorded low crash rates, with no deaths despite more than 150 barrier strikes. Safety features, including two lanes in each direction and a flexible median barrier between opposing lanes help reduce the risk of death or serious injury in a crash,” he said.

Bishop said during public consultation in 2025, 92 percent of the 2061 submissions supported raising the speed limit.

The 4.6km Raumati Straights section of State Highway 1 will remain at 100km/h, before the speed limit returns to 110km/h at the Kāpiti Expressway.

Bishop said while Raumati Straights was consulted on, technical assessments showed the section did not meet the minimum safety and design requirements for raising the speed limits.

I’m assuming the Raumati Straights are that really steep part with the brake failure ramp?

Wellington’s Moa Point wastewater treatment plant has been shut down and staff evacuated from the site, after an equipment failure flooded multiple floors.

Untreated wastewater is being discharged into the sea and that may continue for some time, Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty said.

“This is a serious situation and we anticipate the plant will be shut down for an extended period,” he said.

Dougherty strongly advised the public to stay away from south coast beaches.

Popular Wellington café, Chocolate Fish, is set to close on Sunday.

Café owners John and Penny Pennington like to think of the Chocolate Fish Café, as somewhat of a Mirimar institution. Operating since 1997, it had been at its current site since 2009.

Located at Shelly Bay, John said part of the cafe’s attraction was that it had space for kids to run around, free parking and “pretty good” food. This month the cafe looked a little different however, with price tags littering the room with everything from the chairs and tables to the cutlery on sale.

The cafe site was bought by Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh in 2023.

Describing Bloxham as a “mayoral hopeful” is being incredibly kind to the muppet.

Also, the article doesn’t outright say it, but I suspect he was hanging out with the counter protesters.

I’m definitely not going to miss them, they’ve been an absolute eyesore for many years now. Hopefully some good student accommodation will be built in their place.

The father of a man who drowned in Wellington Harbour is appalled that new Wellington Mayor Andrew Little filmed a video announcing the removal of safety fences near where another man drowned more recently.

Temporary fences have been in place around Wellington’s waterfront since the the death of Isaac Levings in 2023, but on Monday council announced it would remove the temporary fencing this week.

Levings was one of seven people who drowned in the capital’s harbour since 2006.

In March, the Coroner also called for immediate action in “high-risk” areas of the waterfront following an inquest into the accidental drowning of Sandy Calkin in 2021.

But in August, the council voted against a $7 million proposal to urgently put fences up around Wellington’s waterfront.

A new council has since been elected, helmed by Andrew Little.

On Monday, Little posted a video on social media announcing that the fencing was coming down, standing on the waterfront.

This prompted an email from Sandy Calkin’s father Roger Calkin.

“I find it sickening that you have used the spot where the body of Isaac Levings was recovered from the water to choose to make a Facebook video celebrating the removal of the temporary fencing,” Calkin emailed.

“Your choice to shoot this video in that place is a just a further kick in the teeth to victims and their families. Do you have no empathy or understanding of the situation at all?”

Calkin told RNZ the video showed a complete lack of judgement.

“He could have just gone online and made his announcement anywhere. He didn’t have to do it in a place that is likely to offend people,” he said.

In a statement, Little said what happened to Calkin’s son was a tragedy and had his sympathy.

“Wellington City Council has made a number of significant improvements, including lighting, and will continue to invest in safety along the waterfront.”

A person has died after being hit by a falling branch in Mount Victoria in Wellington.

High winds whipped through the capital on Tuesday, which is under a strong wind warning until 8pm.

Police said reports came in just before 9.30am that a man had suffered critical injuries on a trail by Lookout Road.

Hataitai resident Kirsten Johnstone told RNZ she came across a man lying unconscious under a tree and called an ambulance.

She said it was clear he’d been hit on the head.

The man was taken to hospital where he died a short time later.