Bob Simcock has been appointed as Hamilton mayor at this evening's Council Meeting. The Local Electoral Act 2002 determines that when an extraordinary vacancy occurs within 12 months of a triennial election, the position must be filled via the appointment of one of the current elected members. This evening, nominations were called for and Mr Simcock was the single nominee put forward by his coll... more...

A three-week trial cull of feral pigeons on central Hamilton bridges will begin on Monday, 28 May 2007. Victoria, Claudelands and Fairfield Bridges have become overpopulated by feral pigeons. The impetus behind the cull is to relieve heavy fouling of river walkway areas that sit beneath these bridges. Pigeon fouling causes a build-up of excrement that is unsanitary and over time, the high acid co... more...

A new mayor is to be appointed at this evening's Ordinary Meeting of Council. Last week's appointment of incumbent mayor Michael Redman to the role of CEO has necessitated reference to the Local Government Act 2002 and the Local Electoral Act 2002 to determine the path forward for Council leadership. According to Section 117 to 120 of the Local Electoral Act 2002, when an extraordinary vacancy o... more...

Cars infringing parking restrictions on city clearways and bus stops now run a higher risk of being towed. Vehicles transgressing parking restrictions during the daytime have previously been penalised with a parking infringement fine. This week, Council will introduce active vehicle towing from clearways and bus stops to enable unrestricted traffic flow and to provide a strong deterrent for offen... more...

Michael Redman is to relinquish the mayoralty with his appointment to the role of chief executive at Hamilton City Council. The announcement was made on Friday by deputy mayor Bob Simcock following an extraordinary meeting of Council Thursday afternoon where the decision to appoint Mr Redman as CEO was made. Mr Redman resigns as Hamilton mayor at the end of the month and will begin his new role a... more...

Next week sees the start of major works along Mill St to prepare the street circuit for the V8 Supercars event next April. A schedule of works is planned for the coming year to prepare the 3.4km Frankton/city circuit for the seven year race. Current and future works planned include: The median along Mill St will be removed, and the road surface reshaped and resealed to make the road surface f... more...

  Motorists on the Southern Motorway today (16 May) may spot some unusual and heavy cargo as Hamilton Zoo and Auckland Zoo transfer four white rhino between the two facilities – weighing over six tonne between them. Three male southern white rhinos, Zambezi and his two sons Inkosi and Mtoto, will make the move from Hamilton to Auckland Zoo. In transit, they will pass Auckland'... more...

To help residents understand recent property revaluations, and their impact on rates for next year, a rating and property search has been made available online at the Hamilton website www.hamilton.co.nz . Hamilton City Council has this week put its Rating Information Database on the website to help people easily and quickly access rating and property information about their property and any other... more...

Council is currently considering a suite of hard hitting responses intended to directly reduce the negative impact of 'boy racer' activity on the city's residents and business owners. Statutory Management Committee chair John Gower says that Council has been looking into this serious issue for over six months and has met with Police, local residents and businesses to discuss the best steps forwar... more...

At this year's second citizenship ceremony held last night [Monday, 7 May 2007], Hamilton welcomed 300 new citizens. The ceremony was held at Founders Theatre and welcomed new citizens to our country and our city from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. People from 28 different countries can now call New Zealand home. Hamilton Mayor Michael Redman says Hamilton is proud of its diversity and the ... more...

A 2.9 metre tall soldier statue memorialising the New Zealand Navy, Army and Air Force will be officially presented to the city at Hamilton Park Cemetery's Totara Services lawn this Sunday [13 May] at 10am. Hamilton mayor Michael Redman will officially unveil and accept the statue on behalf of the city from James R. Hill Funeral Directors who initiated the statue as a permanent memorial to servic... more...

Bus patronage levels in Hamilton are at an all time high with the 2 million journey mark past in March and 2.5 million rides forecast for the full financial year. Councillor and Transport Committee chair Dave Macpherson today congratulated Environment Waikato staff for their contribution towards achieving Access Hamilton's objective of providing an accessible and viable public transport service f... more...

Council received a total of 201 submissions to its Proposed 2007/08 Annual Plan, with 58 people requesting to be heard in support of their written submission. The number is very similar to last year’s 10-year proposed long-term plan which received 202 submissions.   Hamilton mayor Michael Redman says he is pleased with the response, especially as the 2007/08 year is year two of the long-ter... more...

Hamilton City Libraries is throwing a pyjama party for children and caregivers from 6.30pm-7.30pm on 10 May as part of the New Zealand Post Book Awards festival which runs from 7-16 May. Chartwell Library will host the pyjama party where story-time, games, biscuits and hot chocolate will be on offer together with a special reading of Kylie Mewburn's book entitled Kiss Kiss Yuck Yuck. The book is ... more...

The Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Awards are now open – and for the first time, entrants will be able to submit their entry electronically this year. The online entry form is available at Waikato Museum's website: www.waikatomuseum.co.nz/contemporaryartaward. The impetus behind moving to online entry is to increase accessibility and convenience for entrants. The online form allows ent... more...

Council has received a report identifying the cost of compliance to new central Government legislation since 2000 following a resolution by the Finance and Audit committee to identify the real impact of these costs to ratepayers. The report identifies 60 new pieces of Government legislation enacted since 2000 and summarises the resulting cost to Council though their implementation. Chair of the ... more...