Ian McLeanSpokesperson for the Green Party When big business says there is value in operating sustainably, you know a key change is in the air. Pure Advantage is not your usual fringe lobby group. It is a research team representing some of the... Read More

Cr Bill FaulknerFaulkners Corner www.sunlive.co.nz Elected members started work on the annual plan/budget for the next financial year this week. The bottom line for ratepayers should have been good news (as noted in last week's column) but, as... Read More

John CroninBOP Regional Council Chairmanwww.boprc.govt.nz Five years ago I was part of a passionate and committed group of people from across the Bay of Plenty - from businesses, economic development agencies, councils and central government -... Read More

Jane NeesBOP Regional Councillorwww.janenees.co.nz It is expected that the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill will be further progressed by Parliament before Christmas. The Bill was changed very little through the Select Committee stage... Read More

Paula ThompsonBOP Regional Councillorwww.envbop.govt.nz There's probably not a lot most of us all agree on, but if there was something I'd bet it would be that our beautiful harbour is what makes this place so special. Whether you're on, in,... Read More

First ImpressionsBy Brendan Horan I was looking forward to last Sunday as it was my first opportunity in quite a while to get out on the ocean with friends and fish. I was up and ready at 5am - the blue time, as my son describes it. At dawn the... Read More

By Vicky SempleWBOP Primary School CoordinatorSport Bay of Plenty Year 5 and 6 students will represent not only their schools, but also their cluster groups at the Western Bay of Plenty Inter-schools Athletics Championship, which is always a spectacle... Read More

Dennis McMahon McMahon Commercial mcmahoncommercial As we approach the end of another fairly difficult year, there are signs that the commercial property sector may finally be turning a corner. At a recent Bayleys auction in Auckland, six tenanted... Read More

Sideline SidSports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz A large part of Sideline Sid's life long attraction to cricket is the myriad of statistics and history that accompany the game. A couple of weeks ago the skipper of the Bay of Plenty... Read More

Pete MorrisArt blogger www.sunlive.co.nz Artist Suzanne Smith was born in Auckland, grew up in Te Puke and Tauranga, and was a foundation pupil at the new Otumoetai College. Suzanne trained as a photographic oil colourist and retoucher - a profession... Read More

John ArtsAbundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz During the past two weeks I have been attending a nutritional medicine clinic in Sydney. Most of the time we were taking cases, assessing diet and nutritional status and creating programmes to help address... Read More

Dazz SwitallaFlavour SecretsNo.1 The Strand Chef www.no1thestrand.co.nz Why I let the mint run wild and take over the strawberries and the raspberry patch I never know. I think now it's time to rip it all out and do something with it besides new... Read More