Hamilton City Council has adopted a new system for listing candidates on voting papers, ahead of the local body elections on 9 October 2010. Councillors have decided to drop the traditional alphabetical order of candidates in favour of a “pseudo-random” system. Under the pseudo-random system, candidates names are drawn “from a hat” then listed in that order on the voting paper. The city’s Ele... more...

Hamilton City Council has approved a $435,000 contract to restore the Bryce Street to London Street section of the riverbank and walkway, washed away by major flooding in 2008. The 2008 floods saw river levels rise to over 16 metres in the city, submerging many low lying roads and areas along the river walkway. The resulting landslide has since rendered the walkway beneath London Street unusable ... more...

Construction of the much-awaited Hydrotherapy Pool will begin this Thursday 25 February at Hamilton City Council’s public pool complex, Waterworld. At a ceremony onsite to mark the occasion, Hamilton Mayor Bob Simcock and Hamilton Hydrotherapy Pool Trust chairman David Peart will together turn the first sod. Invited guests include up to a hundred Trust members, local dignitaries and funders who h... more...

A chimpanzee in Malaysia left such an impression on Hamilton Zoo volunteer host Kim White that she is fundraising to return to the country to help improve its quality of life. In May last year Ms White participated in a volunteer programme to Malaysia/Borneo, which included spending two weeks working at the Ape Centre at Zoo Negara. During her time there she was introduced to a 20-year-old male ... more...

The public are being advised to keep their dogs out of Hamilton Lake (Lake Rotoroa) and avoid all contact with the water due to a potentially toxic bloom of blue-green algae. Hamilton City Council staff raised the alarm about the algae yesterday and an initial sample examined by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) confirmed the presence of two species of cyanobacteria,... more...

Councillors have identified additional savings in the draft 2010/11 Annual Plan, resulting in a further reduction in the proposed average annual rates increase to 3.4%. These fresh savings identified at a Council meeting yesterday (Wednesday, 10 February) contribute to a 0.45% decrease in the proposed annual increase for existing ratepayers, and a 1.26% reduction from the 4.66% forecast in the 2... more...

Hamilton residents will receive some budgeting pearls of wisdom as part of an upcoming series of author talks at Hamilton City Libraries. Waikato author Jackie Gower, co-author of ‘The $21 Challenge: We show you how to feed your family for a week on just $21’, will be holding three talks at Hamilton City Libraries throughout February – at Glenview Library on Monday, 8 February at 10.30am; Dinsda... more...

City residents will get a fresh take on Hamilton this Saturday 6 February as a series of citywide public open days begin for Fast Forward – the Hamilton District Plan Review. The review affects all Hamiltonians. The new District Plan will set out how they and other people can build on, develop and use land in the city. At each location the public open days will cover the biggest issue... more...