Maggie Farmer's effort to stop the wholesale removal of a Norfolk Pine on 22nd Avenue moved into overdrive at 9am when chainsaws began to ‘limb' its lower branches.
She says the Tauranga City Council has gone against its own policy by agreeing to remove the 30m tree, despite not meeting any of the council's criteria for removing trees.
Maggie Farmer says if the 22nd Avenue Norfolk Pine is cut down, it sends a dangerous precedent. See video interview with her below.
A council report states the tree is a ‘significant landmark' and did not meet any of the removal requirements.
These requirements are: a proven threat to health or safety or property; at risk of interfering with infrastructure services; a diseased condition that could not be improved.
Maggie says Mayor Stuart Crosby has confirmed that the council has gone against its policy and he was calling on councillors to reconsider their decision so he could get a stay of execution.
If most councillors agreed today, plans for the tree will be downgraded from complete removal to simply cutting off lower limbs.
Unless there is a change the tree will be removed tomorrow when the street will be closed from 9am to 3pm.
'This tree is a legend in the area and I'm determined to make sure it doesn't become a myth,” she says.
'It will be almost like tearing my heart out – it's right outside my bedroom and it's the thing that I wake up to with the birds in the morning.”
The council was approached by four residents to have the tree removed on the grounds that it was dangerous, risked causing power outages, was unbalanced, roots were damaging driveways, it was littering the area and blocking light.
A council report gave the options of removing and replacing the tree at a cost of $3000 plus GST or pruning the tree at cost of $400 plus GST.
15 comments
Please
Posted on 16-08-2011 14:17 | By jaimilee
I hope the tree gets to stay. It will be so sad to chop it down!
While your at it...
Posted on 16-08-2011 15:13 | By adrian
I have few tall trees on my section the council can prune
chop it down
Posted on 16-08-2011 16:04 | By dave4u
fire wood for the cold people next year
Barking up the wrong tree
Posted on 16-08-2011 17:02 | By maggie.farmer
Thanks Sunlive, for your ability to be on the spot ! Do we kiss goodbye the Pine outside BOP Polytech and hundreds of others with a covert meeting and a casting vote, a turning of backs on policy and Arborist?
Don't destroy this tree
Posted on 16-08-2011 17:07 | By bettyce
Please let this tree live; we need trees to beautify our town. This one has certainly all the attributes.
why won't they do ours
Posted on 16-08-2011 17:39 | By maggieanne
For a number of years we have asked the council prune a very large walnut tree outside our property on Fraser Street to lessen the danger from falling walnuts and the danger of falling on them to say nothing of the damage they do to cars parked on the roadside nad of course to the blades of lawnmowers. We kept getting told they are a heritage tree and no they can do nothing. Maybe if it was outside their properties they would see this in a different light.
chop it
Posted on 16-08-2011 20:04 | By Capt_Kaveman
if the council can cut down pohutukawas then remove this horrid tree as well+ dont stop there go over to the Mt and remove those eyesore Norfolk Pines off the beach
tree
Posted on 16-08-2011 20:14 | By Glen Clova
Cut the thing down, its only a tree.there are hundreds of trees around Tauranga which are giving people a lot of grief with leaves and shadowing their properties.
cut it down
Posted on 16-08-2011 21:01 | By Mr bay
Cut it down its not as if its a native tree, and try living under a try of this size must be a nightmare...not only with branches and leaves falling down but with the roots under ground casusing damage.
Get rid of it
Posted on 16-08-2011 22:11 | By pieceofshirt
Chop it down. or if you feel so attached to trees, offer to clean up the mess that trees like this leave on homeowners properties. Trees like this are VERY problematic for some residents and their neighbours.
Policy poser for Cr Guy
Posted on 16-08-2011 22:21 | By Inconvenient Truth
If I remember right Cr Guy and some other councillors made a lot of noise about the loan to the Jazz Festival because it was against council policy. What is their position on cutting this tree which Maggie says goes against council policy? I think in the past Cr Guy has been keen to assist people wanting trees removed. I'll be interested to read his position on this. As for trees it would be a boring barren city with too few, but on the other hand to be completely shaded out by them would be unbearable. A real tricky one for the councillors to solve. Policy has a lot to answer for. It must have allowed council to buy the Speedway, but not give the jazz festival a helping hand in the form of a loan. Wonder what is really says about trees. Inconvenient Truth - popping up to keep things consistent.
The Policy, Vegetation & Tree Management
Posted on 17-08-2011 08:05 | By Murray.Guy
Elected members determine policy relevant to individual activity areas to provide the parameters of decision making for staff. If there is clarity required or conflict in regard specific policy then it must go back to the 'policy makers' who quite reasonably as owners of the policy, can make a determination. A subcommittee does not have the authority (such as the Event Funding Sub-committee) to alter, ignore the decision making policy parameters. The Vegetation and Tree Management policy (as below) is very subjective, open to interpretation. The policy that determines ratepayer contributions to events (eg: Jazz Festival $120,000) is quite prescriptive, finite, by comparison. 5.5 Removal of Trees in Public Spaces Trees on Council owned or administered land can be removed in whole or in part if the trees are: • A proven threat to public health and safety or property, or • Interfering with infrastructure services or within the tolerance zones for overhead services and continued pruning is detrimental to the ongoing health of the tree, or • In a diseased/dying and/or unattractive condition which cannot be improved by treatment. Or where: • Continued pruning is detrimental to the ongoing health of the tree, or • The ongoing health of the tree itself or those trees in the direct vicinity is affected e.g. overcrowded berms. • Where the tree is deemed by the City Arborist to be an inappropriate species for the site. If a tree is removed it will be replaced with a species appropriate to the location.
What a Wonderful
Posted on 17-08-2011 09:18 | By RawPrawn
City we live in, when this is the most headline worthy issue we have to ponder. Obviously trees are an asset to any community but as for "..This tree is a legend ....", simply eye-wateringly hilarious!
Shade & Mess
Posted on 17-08-2011 18:10 | By Localgirl
Maggie Farmer doesn't live in the shade of this tree, let alone the mess it makes!
So was this against Policy or not Cr Guy?
Posted on 17-08-2011 21:42 | By Inconvenient Truth
I'd have thought if you couldn't support a loan to the Jazz Festival because it was against policy, then you'd also have to abide by policy when it came to tree removal. Still waiting to see if a Council can buyout a Speedway Policy exists. Inconvenient Truth - trying to make sure councillors are transparent and don't have mindsets.
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