Who at the Tauranga City Council ordered the removal of our beloved Oak tree from the roundabout on Cameron Rd and Ninth Ave? Is it council policy that Tauranga should only grow native trees thereby depriving citizens of enjoying our majestic autumn colours? Or are the council removing that efficient roundabout to install traffic lights? If so, it must be the same council planners who created the gridlocking of Greerton's traffic, who are now going to gridlock Cameron Rd as well. No wonder that Fraser St now is the main traffic route and the Hairini Bridge is still gridlocked at peak hours. Council should learn from their mistakes, rather than just repeating them.

J Sherlock, Parkvale.

TCC director of transport Brendan Bisley replies:

'Council's priority is ensuring the safety of all road users, including pedestrians, those who are vulnerable or people who choose to travel by alternative modes. There are a number of intersections in Tauranga where there have been major accidents, including Ninth Avenue/Cameron Road. We are currently making some major changes to Cameron Road, and one of the key outcomes from the project is providing safer connections for all road users, and this means, in some cases, the need to install traffic lights. Council aims to put the right tree in the right spot, sometimes that is native and sometimes that is exotic. The work underway along Cameron Rd will see around 30,000 new plants added ranging from grasses and small shrubs to canopy trees, and of the 260 trees currently along the road only 16 will be removed with the wood from those trees given to mana whenua. Tauranga is a growing city, which makes the upgrading of main transport corridors like Cameron Road essential. We need to be smarter and ensure that while we do build new and better connecting roads, we also provide alternatives that allow people to get around safely by walking, biking and using public transport. This is what the work underway along Cameron Road will deliver.”