Thousands queued up outside the Wellington Central Library Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui on Saturday as it reopened for the first time in seven years.

The building had been closed since March 2019, due to earthquake risk, with pop-up libraries in the city in the interim, while it underwent a $217 million makeover.

Sewing machines, 3D printers and a taniwha slide sit among the hundreds of thousands of books inside the freshly refurbished five-storey library.

The original library opened in 1991 – when it was also given the name Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, which translates to ‘the window to the wider world’.

It has been closed since March 2019 after a seismic assessment found it was a threat to life if a serious earthquake occurred. It has now had a $217.6 million makeover. While much of the shell of the original award-winning library remains, many of its concrete walls have been removed, bringing in more natural light.

The library will reopen on Saturday, 14 March.

Transmission Gully will move to a 110km/h speed limit from next week.

"Since opening in 2022, Transmission Gully has recorded low crash rates, with no deaths despite more than 150 barrier strikes. Safety features, including two lanes in each direction and a flexible median barrier between opposing lanes help reduce the risk of death or serious injury in a crash," he said.

Bishop said during public consultation in 2025, 92 percent of the 2061 submissions supported raising the speed limit.

The 4.6km Raumati Straights section of State Highway 1 will remain at 100km/h, before the speed limit returns to 110km/h at the Kāpiti Expressway.

Bishop said while Raumati Straights was consulted on, technical assessments showed the section did not meet the minimum safety and design requirements for raising the speed limits.

I'm assuming the Raumati Straights are that really steep part with the brake failure ramp?

Wellington's Moa Point wastewater treatment plant has been shut down and staff evacuated from the site, after an equipment failure flooded multiple floors.

Untreated wastewater is being discharged into the sea and that may continue for some time, Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty said.

"This is a serious situation and we anticipate the plant will be shut down for an extended period," he said.

Dougherty strongly advised the public to stay away from south coast beaches.

Popular Wellington café, Chocolate Fish, is set to close on Sunday.

Café owners John and Penny Pennington like to think of the Chocolate Fish Café, as somewhat of a Mirimar institution. Operating since 1997, it had been at its current site since 2009.

Located at Shelly Bay, John said part of the cafe's attraction was that it had space for kids to run around, free parking and "pretty good" food. This month the cafe looked a little different however, with price tags littering the room with everything from the chairs and tables to the cutlery on sale.

The cafe site was bought by Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh in 2023.

Describing Bloxham as a "mayoral hopeful" is being incredibly kind to the muppet.

Also, the article doesn't outright say it, but I suspect he was hanging out with the counter protesters.

I'm definitely not going to miss them, they've been an absolute eyesore for many years now. Hopefully some good student accommodation will be built in their place.

The father of a man who drowned in Wellington Harbour is appalled that new Wellington Mayor Andrew Little filmed a video announcing the removal of safety fences near where another man drowned more recently.

Temporary fences have been in place around Wellington's waterfront since the the death of Isaac Levings in 2023, but on Monday council announced it would remove the temporary fencing this week.

Levings was one of seven people who drowned in the capital's harbour since 2006.

In March, the Coroner also called for immediate action in "high-risk" areas of the waterfront following an inquest into the accidental drowning of Sandy Calkin in 2021.

But in August, the council voted against a $7 million proposal to urgently put fences up around Wellington's waterfront.

A new council has since been elected, helmed by Andrew Little.

On Monday, Little posted a video on social media announcing that the fencing was coming down, standing on the waterfront.

This prompted an email from Sandy Calkin's father Roger Calkin.

"I find it sickening that you have used the spot where the body of Isaac Levings was recovered from the water to choose to make a Facebook video celebrating the removal of the temporary fencing," Calkin emailed.

"Your choice to shoot this video in that place is a just a further kick in the teeth to victims and their families. Do you have no empathy or understanding of the situation at all?"

Calkin told RNZ the video showed a complete lack of judgement.

"He could have just gone online and made his announcement anywhere. He didn't have to do it in a place that is likely to offend people," he said.

In a statement, Little said what happened to Calkin's son was a tragedy and had his sympathy.

"Wellington City Council has made a number of significant improvements, including lighting, and will continue to invest in safety along the waterfront."

A person has died after being hit by a falling branch in Mount Victoria in Wellington.

High winds whipped through the capital on Tuesday, which is under a strong wind warning until 8pm.

Police said reports came in just before 9.30am that a man had suffered critical injuries on a trail by Lookout Road.

Hataitai resident Kirsten Johnstone told RNZ she came across a man lying unconscious under a tree and called an ambulance.

She said it was clear he'd been hit on the head.

The man was taken to hospital where he died a short time later.

Personally, I think going to the media with this was exactly the right thing to do, it makes sure this isn't quietly covered up, and the right people get a fire lit under them.

This is a very bizarre event, and is sounding more and more like a hoax of some description.

Which would be very disappointing, as a lot of time and money has been spent on this search.

Wellington Airport has officially unveiled its latest terminal centrepiece, Manu Muramura - an illuminated sculpture representing the local bird spirit, created by the award-winning Wētā Workshop.

The new sculpture was revealed on Friday morning during a ceremony that included a powerful kapa haka performance.

The artwork was designed to honour the pūrākau (traditional story) of taniwha Ngake and Whātaitai from Te Whanganui-a-Tara, with Whātaitai's spirit said to have ascended in the form of a bird after becoming trapped in the harbour.

It features a 15m long fibreglass body and wings with steel armature, polycarbonate feathers, and a 3D-printed head complete with internal lighting.

Pics

Wellington and the Palestinian city of Ramallah have signed a partnership agreement aimed at promoting collaboration and cooperation between the two places.

The Friendly City Agreement was signed simultaneously by Mayor Tory Whanau in Wellington and Mayor Issa Kassis, who joined online from Ramallah.

"In light of the genocide in Gaza, this partnership serves as a powerful symbol of solidarity and hope. It is through such relationships that we can promote understanding and work towards a more peaceful future."

In 2023, Wellington City Council voted to initiate a Friendly City relationship with Ramallah, the first step towards becoming sister cities.

Ramallah has a population of about 85,000 people and is located 16 kilometres north of Jerusalem on the West Bank.

Wellington mayoral candidate Graham Bloxham has announced he is quitting the race.

It appears Bloxham has announced he is quitting before submitting his nomination, which has not appeared on the Wellington City Council website.

Bloxham runs the Facebook page WellingtonLive and has faced controversy in recent months after being arrested for failing to stop for police, and being told by the Employment Relations Authority to pay a former employee $30,000.

In a LinkedIn post, Bloxham said he will not be running for the mayor of Wellington.

"After much research 'talking to the neighbours cat over the fence', I feel I can do a much better job outside of council."

Shamelessly stolen from our favourite wind bag column writer, Joel MacManus.

I'm looking forward to this actually, I drive that road a lot, and this will represent a significant time saving on a round trip.

I understand there has been talk of raising the limit further, to 120.

Just more clouds, cruise ships, ferries and planes... and coffee

View from my flat that is up for sale, send me a private message if you want the details.

Another major exhibition at Wellington's $180 million convention centre has failed to break even, with the council refusing to say exactly how many people visited it.

Last July RNZ reported the first two major exhibitions at Tākina, Jurassic World by Brickman and Marvel: Earth's Mightiest Exhibition failed to either break even or reach their target visitor numbers.

The Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder ran from 1 June to 28 October and featured props from the BBC sci-fi show which first aired in 1963.

Now that Snapper cards have the 1.5% processing fee on phone top-ups, I did a little math to figure out the cut-off for topping up at a kiosk instead.

Kiosks have a flat 25¢ fee to top up if you use a debit card.

If you are topping up $15 or less, you should top up on your phone (the fee is 23¢ or less). Anything higher than that, you should top up at a kiosk.

The best strategy is to top up as much as you can at a kiosk in one go.

I love getting up with a coffee, sitting outside and listen to the kākā and watch the clouds. Video in link

On the upside, garden thrives on the mood.

Mystery and intrigue is rippling through a Lower Hutt community, where random letterboxes have been stuffed with romantic literature over the past week.

Erotica and romance - or smut - has been soaring in popularity amongst Generation Z, but the books being delivered to letterboxes from Eastbourne to Lowry Bay are no modern reads.

They mostly appear to be tales from the 1980s, like Lovestorm by Barbara Benedict, in which the protagonist is "stripped of her pride by a dashing rogue" and learns "the sweet fury of passion's tempest".

Several people are injured after being hit by a car on Fergusson Drive near Tararua Street, in Trentham, Upper Hutt.

Emergency services responded to the crash at 1.45pm. The road will remain shut for at least another hour.

People travelling to or from the nearby Wellington Cup Races are advised to take alternative routes.

This sounds like an amazing development for them