News 
The Press- News column Oct 29
Spongers at Council. Mayor Lianne Dalziel has hit the ground running with a wave of pleasingly populist, but entirely sound decisions. Appointing Vicki Buck her deputy, and declaring war on cavalier council expenditure strikes the right notes. Perhaps Dalziel, who was raised a Catholic, has been channelling the refreshing frugality of Pope Francis, who wants … Read More ›
The Press-News column Oct 22
Visitor Tax full of bed bugs. I’m a little surprised that the great helmsman of Canterbury Tourism, Tim Hunter, is open to visitors being clobbered with a tourist tax, or bed tax, in a bid to help the city council assume ownership of the glittering new convention centre. The government has magnanimously committed to fully funding the… Read More ›
The Press-News column Oct 15
Christchurch Council election results. The Garden City has just experienced its own, albeit orderly, version of the Arab Spring. Hurricane Broomstick has blasted through the city, spring-cleaning the council decks, wiping out the entrails of the A Team, re-setting the political pendulum and installing a radically different regime of representatives. When was the last time… Read More ›
The Press-News column Oct 8.
Election crystal-ball in Christchurch. I’ve been busy sizing up the local body election talent, in much the same way that undertakers look at old people. Invited to host a variety of well-attended candidates meetings, I’ve seen the best and worst of the hustlers on the hustings. But why is it that council elections are the… Read More ›
The Press-News column Oct 1
Drink-drive limit debate. As the police pile the pressure on the government to lower New Zealand’s drink-drive limit, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee has retaliated in vintage form, essentially telling the police to butt out. Brownlee has brusquely reminded the police brass that their job is to enforce the law, not decide what the law should… Read More ›
The Press-News column Sep 24
Christchurch’s CBD recovery. Mike Yardley’s weekly column in The Press. Sept 24. The commencement of construction on Antony Gough’s dazzling Oxford Terrace development exemplifies the renaissance in confidence that is coursing through Christchurch. In a city riddled with road cones and pot holes, exasperating detours and traffic delays, driving around Christchurch can be a one… Read More ›
The Press-News column Sep 17
A big pay-day for Christchurch City Council’s outgoing CEO. So, the bucks do stop with Tony Marryatt. All $492,932 of them. As Christchurch cringes at his hefty exit package, a host of questions remain. Why should this individual receive such largesse, when he has “chosen to resign.”? I think Tony Marryatt should have been forced… Read More ›
The Press-News column Sep 10
2 Abreast Cycling Rule should be abolished. With the darling buds of spring bursting forth, the blaze of lycra seems to grow in tandem with the explosion of blossom. Yes, the warmer weather brings recreational cyclists out in ever-increasing force. Cycling advocates are stepping up their campaign for legislative protection, which would force motorists to… Read More ›
The Press-News column Sep 3
Street Prostitution in Christchurch. Jonathan and his young family no longer use the front rooms of their Manchester St house, after dark. They’ve been forced to confine themselves to the back half of their home, due to the loud, offensive and explicit activity that pollutes the front of their property, night after night. And in… Read More ›
The Press-News column. Aug 27
Does Christchurch really need a new slogan? What is your favourite city destination? Wherever in the world it may be, I bet you can’t recall its official branding slogan. Because, chances are, the destination in question doesn’t even sport a silly little slogan. Most successful and self-respecting cities have cut the chord on feel-good straplines…. Read More ›
Mike Yardley News and Travel 