Riverfront redevelopment:
Exciting opportunity for Wanganui

Mayor Michael Laws has hailed the proposed redevelopment of the riverfront area as “a historic opportunity to remake the centre and the living heart of Wanganui”.

On 9 February 2010 interested parties packed the Council Chamber to hear about the council’s vision for the riverfront and to begin an extensive communication process about its future development. Read more...

Minister rejects NZ Geographic Board decision on naming:
"Wanganui will decide its own identity & destiny"

Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws says that the rejection of the NZ Geographic Board’s decision to rename ‘Wanganui’ as ‘Whanganui’ was “an early Christmas present for the city and district, and effectively allows us to determine our own identity and destiny”.
Read more...

View presentation to Land Information Minister Hon. Maurice Williamson.

The Council made a submission to the NZ Geographic Board, on behalf of the Wanganui community, on the spelling of Wanganui. The submission included an independent report from eminent historian Diana Beaglehole and a letter to the editor of the Wanganui Chronicle regarding the Beaglehole Report.

Submission (PDF, 24KB)
Beaglehole Report (PDF, 62KB)
Letter re Beaglehole Report (PDF, 26KB)

Read more... including a summary of the Beaglehole report and summaries of reports by Bruce Stirling and Che Wilson which formed part of the application by Te Runanga O Tupoho to the NZ Geographic Board to change the spelling.

Report from Samoa:
The devastation of Satitoa

The village of Satitoa in Samoa was devastated in the September 2009 tsunami. The Council is leading a project to help the village, including sending a reconstruction team to Satitoa in December 2009 to build a communal dwelling. Photos of Satitoa, reports from Council's project managers in Samoa and a diary by Wanganui Chronicle reporter Anne-Marie Emerson, who was with the reconstruction team in Satitoa, on this page.

Milestone reached in soft water project

The Council's quest to find soft water for the city supply has reached a major milestone, with softer water coming onstream in late November 2009. More details on this page.

A new Visitor Information Centre for Wanganui

Wanganui's new Visitor Information Centre will be sited on the riverfront at 31 Taupo Quay. Details of the Council's decision and the design are available on this page.

Southern Entranceway:
Gateway will be best in New Zealand

"We are going to have the best entrance to any city anywhere in New Zealand!"

Read more & view photos