Stories by Michael Cropp

Lower Hutt's water supply will probably require permanent chlorination, as officials struggle to find out how the aquifer has become contaminated.

Wellington house prices have soared by more than a fifth in the last year, easily beating Auckland, which remains the most expensive city in New Zealand.

Police and health officials have been told to stop challenging liquor licensing applications just because they failed to negotiate earlier closing times for Wellington's bars.

A Wellington highway project is being touted as one of the most technically challenging in New Zealand's history.

Wellington's port would be unusable if a large earthquake struck within the next three months, senior officials says.

The roof above the community courts at Stadium Southland collapsed under the weight of snow in September 2010.

Wellington Airport is going to the Supreme Court over its controversial plan to extend its runway.

What's the best way to cope in a natural disaster? Know your neighbours, a new strategy says.

At least four buildings at Wellington's port are set to be demolished following November's earthquake.

LeaderBrand is withdrawing all its salad products after a batch tested positive for the listeria monocytogenes bacteria.

Trump-style economic protectionism could have devastating effects around the world, Federated Farmers say.

The decision to let Wellington Airport build the shortest possible safety area for any runway extension should be revisited, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

First Person - A week ago, Farewell Spit was left a graveyard after one of the biggest whale strandings in New Zealand history. Reporter MICHAEL CROPP went there.

Some Wellington businesses are worried about what they say is a rise in opportunistic and strategic begging.

A gas cylinder exploded aboard a cruise ship berthed in Otago, hitting and killing a crew member, before flying over the railings onto the wharf below.

It defies belief that almost 12,000 hectares of land on the margins of Canterbury's rivers has been converted for intensive agriculture, an environmental group says.

The council is negotiating a music centre deal with Victoria University and the NZ Symphony Orchestra for a music hub at the Town Hall.

The chapel at Erskine College in Island Bay has been cordoned off, after new engineering reports found it was damaged in the November earthquakes.

Strict holiday speed limits could be making the roads more dangerous by reducing drivers' ability to spot hazards, new research suggests.

Engineers are being brought in from outside Wellington to help meet a fresh demand to get buildings checked after the Kaikōura earthquake.

More than 100 Wellington apartment dwellers evacuated after the Kaikōura quake are being given 20 minutes' access to their homes.

A shop owner in Gisborne says she has had thousands of dollars of takings stolen following the city's two-day power outage.

Researchers can predict which three year olds will grow up to be criminals or beneficiaries with poor health and a high chance of becoming obese.

Wellington's inner city residents say they will need financial support if they are to strengthen earthquake-prone buildings.

Firefighters feared a dust explosion while battling a toxic blaze at a fertiliser plant near Napier.