Ben Bell

Three southern mayors are pleading for the Government to offer real answers to a looming decade of big rate hikes, now the cost of three waters is back on their books.

The coalition Government has… Audio

Gore remains in a state of emergency Friday morning, after Thursday's heavy rain and widespread flooding.

Despite the rain easing, some river levels are still rising.

The District Council says the… Audio

Otago correspondent Tess Brunton discusses another temporary closure of Oamaru Emergency Department, due to doctor shortages. And down in Gore, an $11,000 attempt to patch up relations between mayor… Audio

The nation’s news outlets aren’t usually interested in local government ructions in the south, but deep rifts in one dysfunctional council have made many headlines lately. When a ‘showdown’ meeting in… Video, Audio

The dust has settled in Gore and its young, embattled mayor now has a freshly united council behind him. His deputy had called on him to resign, leading to an extraordinary council meeting where it… Audio

A council paralysed, a mayor and a chief executive not speaking to each other - what's going on in Gore? Audio

A Gore councillor has quit, saying there's "unsustainable anxiety" at the council.

The resignation of Bret Highsted has triggered a costly by election. The mayor and chief executive aren't talking to… Audio

This year Gore elected the country's youngest ever mayor, when Ben Bell, aged 23, won the mayoralty by just 8 votes. Ben Bell edged out the six-term incumbent, Tracy Hicks. Despite his youth, Ben has… Audio

Ben Bell will become the country's youngest mayor.

The 23-year-old has ousted six-term mayor Tracy Hicks by just eight votes, after a judge dismissed his bid for a recount.

He spoke to Michael… Audio

Meanwhile Gore has elected the country's youngest ever mayor. 23-year-old Ben Bell has beaten Tracey Hicks by eight votes after waiting a nail-biting five days for 67 special votes to be counted.

… Video, Audio

Local election results are in and are most towns know who is in charge. But a handful of places are still waiting for the results - Gore being one of them. Twenty-three year old Ben Bell is… Audio

We have something of a cliffhanger in the local body elections in Gore.

As things stand, twenty-three-year-old Ben Bell has a narrow 13-vote lead over long-time Gore District mayor Tracy Hicks in… Audio

After 35 years of counting threatened Archey's frog on the Coromandel Peninsula, Ben Bell has seen their numbers crash due to the chytrid fungal disease, and the population slowly recover. Audio, Gallery