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Omaha residents are angry with the illegal pruning of trees on Auckland Council land next to Omaha ramp carpark, which has been described as a hack-and-slash job.
Until they were resized, the trees had been partially blocking the views of two properties that both look out across Omaha River to the hills around Whangateau in the distance.
A neighbour, who did not want to be named, says there is a group of non-resident workers who come into Omaha, knock on doors and do cash jobs such as pruning trees.
“It was like a butchering job and it happens regularly, basically to improve someone’s view,” he says.
“When council doesn’t do anything about the trees it can be frustrating. It’s just one or two places where a tree, like a banksia tree, can be left by the council to grow and it doesn’t actually enhance the area.”
He says he doesn’t know who had the trees pruned but would guess that it’s the people that lived next door to them.
“My concern is that they were on council land.”
Auckland Council regional arborists and ecological manager David Stejskal says the council is aware of concerns regarding tree pruning at 219 to 223 Omaha Drive.
“We have not undertaken any recent pruning in this area, and as far as we are aware, the pruning has not been approved by Auckland Council. Therefore, the issue has been assigned to our compliance team.
“Council investigates compliance issues as they arise, with the scale of investigation proportionate to the level of offending. Reports of unauthorised pruning are assessed alongside other compliance matters to determine appropriate next steps,” he says.
“Residents who witness unauthorised tree pruning on public land should report it to Auckland Council through our ‘Report a Problem’ tool. If unauthorised works are suspected, our compliance team will review the situation and take action where appropriate.”
Council’s manager for compliance, Adrian Wilson, says there are a range of outcomes if it’s found that a person has cut trees on council land, without authorisation.
“Council could issue an infringement notice with a $300 penalty to pay.
“If the council deems the offence serious enough, we could pursue prosecution through the courts.
Penalties include up to two years imprisonment, a fine of up to $300,000 for an individual, and a fine of up to $600,000 for other than natural person (business),” he says
“We stress that this is an active investigation, and council has not determined an outcome.”
