http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/65340817/pohutukawa-tree-battle-heats-up
I travel at this junction every week and am amused on how people protest at this issue.
Those native Pohutukawa trees are slated to make way for road widening. Save 6 pohutukawas at St Luke’s on Great North Rd. Road or trees, which has priority?
I remember once, there was a community project to build a road, a neighbour refused to let the people chop her tree down. She lay down on the road.
Talk between officials and the public have been shut down as backlash over the planned removal of pohutukawa trees on Great North Rd grows.
Auckland Transport (AT) representatives refused to discuss the contentious issue during a community liaison meeting on Tuesday night, saying it was not officially a "public meeting".
AT says it will no longer comment "because this matter is going through a legal process and it is not appropriate".
But supporters of the trees are crying foul.
"AT's refusal to speak is basic avoidance," Christine Rose says.
"The fact that there's an independent legal process in no way limits their ability to comment if they wanted to."
Rose was on the former Auckland Regional Council and has joined the fight to save the trees.
"Hopefully they feel uncomfortable that the community is standing up to their ill-advised notion of removing the trees. It's a position that deserves to be challenged.
"But their refusal to engage with the issue won't make it go away, it will just amplify the situation."
AT was given support to remove six pohutukawa by an independent hearing panel late last year.
The trees are opposite Motat and in the way of the NZ Transport Agency's plans to build extra lanes for the $70 million St Lukes motorway interchange.
Grey Lynn resident Patrick Reynolds says Auckland Transport's argument for removing the trees is losing steam.
About 60 people attended the meeting where officials refused to answer questions from the public, Reynolds says.
"It was funny but it was tragic," he says. He left the meeting in disgust.
Waitemata Local Board staunchly opposes the trees' removal and hired a lawyer to represent it during a hearing last year.
Chairman Shale Chambers says Auckland Transport would still need permission from the landowner to access the site. The landowner is Auckland Council.
Chambers says Auckland Transport must be challenged on its stance to remove the trees and is concerned with how the issue has been handled.
Supporters of the trees have been vocal both online and off. The trees have been yarn-bombed – covered in pieces of knitting in protest – and online petitions have been started.
AT told Auckland City Harbour News earlier this month it regretted the loss of the trees "but a major benefit" would be more cycle lanes leading to the motorway overbridge.
Five of the six pohutukawa are believed to be 80 years old and sit between the Northwestern Motorway and Great North Rd in St Lukes. The sixth tree is believed to be about 20 years old.
A public hearing was held in November during which it was revealed 54 submissions were discounted due to a technical error. Just 12 submissions were counted.
Those native Pohutukawa trees are slated to make way for road widening. Save 6 pohutukawas at St Luke’s on Great North Rd. Road or trees, which has priority?
I travel at this junction every week and am amused on how people protest at this issue.
Those native Pohutukawa trees are slated to make way for road widening. Save 6 pohutukawas at St Luke’s on Great North Rd. Road or trees, which has priority?
I remember once, there was a community project to build a road, a neighbour refused to let the people chop her tree down. She lay down on the road.
@BYTHEMOTORWAY/TWITTER
ONGOING SAGA: Supporters fighting to save the six pohutukawa on Great North Rd have used signage to raise awareness to the trees' plight.
Auckland Transport (AT) representatives refused to discuss the contentious issue during a community liaison meeting on Tuesday night, saying it was not officially a "public meeting".
AT says it will no longer comment "because this matter is going through a legal process and it is not appropriate".
But supporters of the trees are crying foul.
"AT's refusal to speak is basic avoidance," Christine Rose says.
"The fact that there's an independent legal process in no way limits their ability to comment if they wanted to."
Rose was on the former Auckland Regional Council and has joined the fight to save the trees.
"Hopefully they feel uncomfortable that the community is standing up to their ill-advised notion of removing the trees. It's a position that deserves to be challenged.
"But their refusal to engage with the issue won't make it go away, it will just amplify the situation."
AT was given support to remove six pohutukawa by an independent hearing panel late last year.
The trees are opposite Motat and in the way of the NZ Transport Agency's plans to build extra lanes for the $70 million St Lukes motorway interchange.
Grey Lynn resident Patrick Reynolds says Auckland Transport's argument for removing the trees is losing steam.
About 60 people attended the meeting where officials refused to answer questions from the public, Reynolds says.
"It was funny but it was tragic," he says. He left the meeting in disgust.
Waitemata Local Board staunchly opposes the trees' removal and hired a lawyer to represent it during a hearing last year.
Chairman Shale Chambers says Auckland Transport would still need permission from the landowner to access the site. The landowner is Auckland Council.
Chambers says Auckland Transport must be challenged on its stance to remove the trees and is concerned with how the issue has been handled.
Supporters of the trees have been vocal both online and off. The trees have been yarn-bombed – covered in pieces of knitting in protest – and online petitions have been started.
AT told Auckland City Harbour News earlier this month it regretted the loss of the trees "but a major benefit" would be more cycle lanes leading to the motorway overbridge.
Five of the six pohutukawa are believed to be 80 years old and sit between the Northwestern Motorway and Great North Rd in St Lukes. The sixth tree is believed to be about 20 years old.
A public hearing was held in November during which it was revealed 54 submissions were discounted due to a technical error. Just 12 submissions were counted.
Those native Pohutukawa trees are slated to make way for road widening. Save 6 pohutukawas at St Luke’s on Great North Rd. Road or trees, which has priority?
I remember once, there was a community project to build a road, a neighbour refused to let the people chop her tree down.
http://thetreecouncil.org.nz/save-6-pohutukawas-at-st-lukes-on-great-north-rd/
http://thetreecouncil.org.nz/save-6-pohutukawas-at-st-lukes-on-great-north-rd/
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