Ballance Street resident Kirsty Porter gives the remnants of the century old pōhutukawa a hug. It should not have been cut down, she and other New Plymouth residents say. Photo: Supplied / Carol de Jager
An award-winning landscape designer has weighed into a stoush over the felling of a 100-year-old pōhutukawa to clear it from powerlines in New Plymouth.
Michael Mansvelt says the multi-trunk tree could have been managed and kept, but has instead been sacrificed, part of a pattern he believes is being repeated across a city famed for its gardens.
Award-winning designer Michael Mansvelt says the destruction of a 100-year-old pōhutukawa tree in New Plymouth is 'a travesty'. Photo: RNZ/ Robin Martin
The chainsaws of Powerco contractors came for the 15-metre high pōhutukawa on Ballance Street during last week's downpour.
The tree had fallen victim to a dispute over who was responsible for maintaining it - the homeowner - whose berm it was growing on - or the council.
The overgrown pōhutukawa tree being removed. Photo: RNZ/Robin Martin
Michael Mansvelt - who had been in the design business for three decades and was the author of several books - was gutted at its demise.
"It's really sad. I feel really frustrated. We're a garden city. We are known all around the world for excellence in horticulture. People come here to enjoy Taranaki and New Plymouth Ngāmotu especially for our gardens, and the fact that this tree is gone is a travesty and it didn't need to happen."
He believed the pōhutukawa could have been made safe without destroying it.
"These trees are metrosideros is the name which means ironwood. In Cyclone Bola, when I was a very young gardener it was the pōhutukawa and Norfolk pines that weren't affected.
"We know that selective pruning could've easily removed branches that were anywhere near the powerlines. I note two or three limbs that could've been removed very easily without destroying the canopy."
Mansvelt says the selective pruning of pūriri trees near the pōhutukawa was an example of good arbory practice. Photo: RNZ/ Robin Martin
Mansvelt said it was ironic that pūriri trees lining neighbouring Selwyn Street just a few metres away had been selectively trimmed to keep them out of powerlines.
"This one of our only tree-lined streets here in New Plymouth and we've got some beautiful pūriri here, but they've been limbed really effectively, they've been limbed away from the power line, so anything that was approaching the power lines has been cut off right at the base and that means it won't grow back. This is what we would call in the industry good horticultural or good arbory practice."
Trees are frequently trimmed to keep them away from powerlines, without needing to take down the whole tree, Mansvelt says. Photo: RNZ/ Robin Martin
Alana Brough, who was quoted $10,000 to have the pōhutukawa trimmed, owns the Ballance Street property.
The daughter of district councillor and mayoral aspirant Max Brough, she said the tree was on council land - but the NPDC would concede it straddled the public land and her property.
Alana Brough had been battling the council over the giant pōhutukawa. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Brough would have preferred a more aesthetically pleasing outcome.
"I think it could've been sculptured and made a little bit smaller so it wasn't posing a risk to the power lines, but the fact the council wanted nothing to do with it meant it was really hard to come to a mutual resolution, so Powerco have then come in and done what they think is right, that doesn't mean to say that suits everyone's opinion as we're finding out."
Brough said it was unclear if Powerco contractors would return to remove "the ugly stump", but if they didn't it would soon start to sprout again and at that point it could be maintained into a safer tree.
Kirsty Porter lived across the road where she had a view from her living room of the tree her children had grown up playing in.
She was not happy.
Ballance Street resident Kirsty Porter's children grew up playing in the pōhutukawa. Photo: Supplied/ Kirsty Porter
"I was shocked that was happening, that the entire tree was coming down rather than being trimmed. But here we are," Porter said.
"It happened on the worst weather day in New Plymouth, which was also a surprise given that one of the reasons given ... was a safety issue with the tree.
"I was grateful for the heavens actually, because I think they were proving a point that the tree shouldn't have been cut down completely."
Mansvelt said there had to be a better way.
"Looking at this case I feel that everybody could've compromised a bit more. I feel like there should be room for negotiation and there should be room for a discussion.
"The council have admitted it was a grey area, it was questionably on their land, but just to carte blanche cut a tree down just makes no real sense. This is a 100-year-old tree."
The stump of the pōhutukawa tree. Photo: RNZ/Robin Martin
In a statement, New Plymouth District Council parks and open spaces manager Conrad Pattison was adamant that the council - with 3000 street trees and countless specimen trees in parks, reserves and on other land it administers - was not responsible for the Ballance Street pōhutukawa.
"We didn't plant the tree, nor did we seek its removal. As it is primarily on private land and is not protected, the landowner can have it removed at their own cost."
Meanwhile, Powerco said trees caused one in five power cuts on its electricity network each year.
"Overgrown trees interfere with power lines and make it difficult for our crews to restore power, also in high winds and storms, branches blowing into power lines cause power outages."
The lines company said tree owners were responsible for maintaining their trees and when a tree posed an immediate danger, Powerco must have consent from the tree owner to undertake mitigative action.
"Trees that have a history of interrupting power supply and pose an ongoing risk to the network that have not [been] maintained according to tree owner obligations are assessed on a case-by-case basis. Tree owner consent to undertake mitigative actions is still required.
"Regarding the pōhutukawa on Ballance Street, the decision to remove the tree was based on the balance of risk and impact to the electricity network."
Powerco said through its Replant for Tomorrow initiative, it had an ongoing commitment to supporting native tree planting in communities on its network.
"Last year, more than 18,000 trees were planted to help offset the trees that were removed from around the network that were growing too close to the power lines.".
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