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An Auckland Council plan to plant trees on the Whangateau Recreation Reserve has been vetoed by residents.
About 35 people attended a meeting at the Whangateau Hall on September 14 to discuss the proposal.
The issue arose following concerns about the health of the existing pohutukawa along the foreshore. At a meeting in June, residents were told by a Council representative that the demise of the trees was discussed and accepted when the seawall project went ahead in 2012. He offered to make good on the resource consent conditions to replenish sand on the beaches and plant new trees.
However, the site for the new plantings, opposite the existing trees on the other side of the path, was the main bone of contention.
Recognising that the domain is a recreation reserve and not a park, residents including the Rams Rugby League Club, opposed any encroachment onto the playing fields and open space.
“The trees would be only seven metres behind the deadball line, which would compromise the safety of players,” a resident said.
Any idea of reconfiguring the sportsfields was also dismissed because of the position of the lights.
When discussion returned to the existing trees, the meeting was told that Council was not prepared to enter into any negotiations about saving them.
Residents discussed whether or not to undertake their own remedial action, but were cautioned by some in the room, who said that unless it was a properly engineered groyne system, it would be unlikely to deliver a long-term solution.
One resident said Council needed to bore a hole in the rock wall so that the tree roots could access freshwater and that it was this lack of access to water in summer that was causing the decline.
The decision of the meeting against the tree planting will be conveyed to the Whangateau Hall Committee which, in turn, will advise Council.
The domain is held by the Department of Conservation on behalf of the Crown and is vested to Auckland Council for recreational purposes.
