The government and Whanganui River iwi have jointly appointed a new Pou Tupua to act and speak on behalf of Te Awa Tupua, the special status accorded to the Whanganui River.
RMA reform minister Chris Bishop bowed to public pressure to release a list of organisations he had approached about applying to have consents fast-tracked.
The country's oldest war memorial will be removed from an historic Whanganui reserve following objections to an inscription condemning upriver Māori for "fanaticism and barbarism".