4 April, 2024

Arborists put $400k price on replacing two trees

Unhappy residents… (from left) Peter McNab, Joy Mace, Jeremy Schmid, Kauan Gracie and Heather Dixon are among those who fear further flooding due to tree litter blocking drains. Behind them, a contractor cleans up the mess beneath the trees.

Removing and replacing two problematic trees in Anne St in Devonport could cost up to $409,000, council arborists have claimed.Residents fighting to be rid of the trees that produce slippery leaf litter and block drains on their flood-prone street were aghast at the estimate, which was presented to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board last month before it narrowly decided the trees should be retained.The decision – on the casting vote of chair Toni van Tonder – reversed a board request made in August that the trees be removed. Stressed residents, who live in dread of heavy rain causing more flooding, were angered by the arborists’ estimates of $209,500 to $409,500 for a removal option which included replacement of the introduced mallet-flower trees with eight natives in specially built tree pits. The estimate was a “straw man” option with a huge and unsubstantiated cost, one of the residents, Dame Judy McGregor, told board members before their vote. Another option put up by arborists was tree removal alone, estimated to cost $3500, with kerb realignment if needed, adding a further $3000. The third option was to do nothing. McGregor said the much more costly option preferred by the arborists should the trees be removed had been put up “in the full knowledge of its prohibitive unaffordabilty for the local board in an age of local body austerity and ratepayer discontent”.Another of the 15 residents at the meeting, Peter McNab, said the option was a nonsense and a “frightener”. Problems had begun with council negligence in planting the wrong trees years ago, he said. The report took arborists 12 weeks to prepare, leaving residents angry they were not consulted on it and had only three days’ notice of it before the meeting. Health and safety issues on the street were being ignored, said McGregor, pointing to a High Court ruling in 2018 that local authorities had a duty of care to mitigate known risks and adverse effects on neighbours. She urged board members to back residents, saying: “This is a political decision, not a bureaucratic one.”For years residents have been picking up foliage and tree fruit from their street, which runs from Queens Pde to Clarence St. They say it is well used by pedestrians, who often slip on leaves and trip on tree roots and broken footpaths. Residents have offered to pay for two more-suitable native specimens for their street to replace what arborists have variously described as Queensland umbrella and now mallet-flower trees. Auckland Council last year placed Anne St on a “hot spot” register, paying to have its drains cleared monthly. Council staff have also said the street is in a flood plain, so flooding cannot necessarily be attributed to the trees.In the board vote, board member Peter Allen switched positions from last year, voting with chair Toni van Tonder and Mel Powell to keep the trees. Deputy chair Terence Harpur, George Wood and Gavin Busch all still wanted the trees replaced sooner rather than later. Allen said he was swayed by the fact a Healthy Waters report due in July that would report on a planned infrastructure upgrade in the street might have implications for the trees. If the report said the trees should be removed in stormwater improvements, this should be done as soon as possible. The board’s resolution said it would review the decision to keep the trees once Healthy Waters reported back on the extent of the stormwater project and the impact the trees were having on flooding.Powell noted an offer made by Restoring Takarunga Hauraki representatives to have its volunteers help with street maintenance. “Will you come in the middle of the night?” a resident asked. Harpur said he did not think removing the trees would create a precedent. “Those are the wrong trees in the wrong place,” he said.Busch said the arborists’ figures were “cuckoo land”. “The arrogance of council staff is terrifying.” Van Tonder said the board had climate-change obligations and goals to improve canopy coverage. “If they don’t need to go we would be losing two beautiful trees on Anne St.”