Chainsaws will be cutting into two historic pohutukawa trees in 2nd Avenue following the recommendation of the council's tree sub-committee yesterday.

Residents wanted three of the trees felled, but in a compromise that interim sub-committee chairman Murray Guy says will please no one, the sub-committee recommended one tree be topped and lopped, but only one will be felled.

One of the pohutukawas outside No.10 2nd Avenue will be felled.

'It wasn't a win/win outcome, it was a lose/lose outcome. But it was about mitigating the degree to which everybody had to carry some of the can,” says Murray today.

Residents at No.2 and 10 2nd Avenue say the historic trees block the sun and cause flooding by blocking drains and guttering.

No.2 resident Tony Mangnus told the sub-committee debris from the tree is shading the property turning it into an ice box in winter, and causing flooding in the courtyard and garage.

He's been a 2nd Ave resident for 40 years and when he arrived the tree was about 5metres high, which is about where it will be pruned back to with the crown reduced from its current 15metres.

The tree outside No.2 has been pruned three times since 2008 to address shading issues, with a heavy pruning undertaken in 2011. The one-off pruning will cost about $1500 plus GST, with the cost met by council.

No.10 property owner Caroline Sparkes wanted both trees outside her property felled. She is getting half of what she requested with one of the pohutukawas outside No.10 set to go.

The cost of cutting the tree will be $3160 and the costs will be paid by Caroline.

Since she purchased the flat in 2008 there have been several floods where water has overflowed the guttering and gotten inside the building. She began developing anxiety issues and moved out in 2009. She now rents the property out.

'I would very much like to return,” says Caroline.

A neighbour of Caroline's property says the flooding is caused by a design fault in the building and is not the fault of the trees.

Fibrolite has been laid flat between the spouting and the house so when the gutter overflows, the water crosses the fibrolite and into the wall cavity. He cut slots into the fibrolite and has no further problems. He told Caroline about the fix, but says she took no action.

Submitter Peter Robinson told the council committee the trees are 65-years-old and were there when the complainants moved in. He says the gutters at No.10 have been checked three times in six years with very little tree material found in the gutters.

The 2nd Avenue pohutukawa are part of the heritage of the city, says Peter. They were planted when there was less than 10,000 people in Tauranga and have grown with the city.

Horticulturalist Sandy Scarrow asked why Tauranga has such a difficult relationship with its trees. Tauranga is a young city but has few stands of large mature trees.

In a personal submission Keith Frenz told council the trees are public property and the council has responsibility for managing the public's property in the public interest – especially since it changed the rules wiping the protection of 1800 formerly protected trees on private property.

The council's tree management policy is supposed to ensure a continuity of management in the public interest, and cutting the trees is against that policy. Cutting the trees serves private interests, says Keith.

By applying the industry scale that councils use to determine whether a tree is protected or not, the 2nd Avenue pohutukawa all score a protected status, says Keith.

To be a protected tree, each tree needs to score 130. The 2nd Avenue trees outside No.2 rate 180 points, and the outside No.10 is 150 points.

'If they had been on private land they most likely would have been protected,” says Keith.

The discussion will bring about a change in the way the council manages its historical trees says Murray.

'A shift from council policy is involved because the degree of trimming and the budget associated with the management of these trees is to be increased and that is because of the significance to the wider community from a historical point of view,” says Murray.

'So rather than looking at what the issue with the tree is, in these historical precincts it's how can we better manage them, and we are doing it up at Brown Street at the moment with the parking and what have you.

'We are going to be asking the staff to look at that street (2nd Ave) and how we manage it, which includes the stormwater, the parking and the trees, rather than just ad hoc.

'You have to weight up the cost benefit and clearly the additional cost and benefit to the community in this instance is warranted.”