THE TREE COUNCIL
Media Release 1st November 2010
Auckland Council to be urged to improve tree protection measures

The Tree Council wants the new Auckland Council to take urgent steps to improve urban tree protection and management measures. At their AGM yesterday, the meeting unanimously supported a resolution to work with other interest and professional groups to lobby the new Council to that end.

Guest speakers from the NZ Arboricultural Association (Adrian Lamont), NZ Institute of Landscape Architecture and the Urban Design Forum (Sally Peake), as well as Green MP David Clendon, voiced their grave concerns about the implications of the government’s recent change to urban tree protection legislation.

“This was a rash decision, made with no consultation, and which limits the ability of local authorities to decide what kind of tree protection measures they want to put in place,” says Sigrid Shayer, Chair of The Tree Council.

“We await the decision of an Environment Court’s statutory declaration on the interpretation of the legislation, recently applied for by Waitakere, North Shore and Auckland Regional Councils, which may ameliorate the situation somewhat.”

“Meanwhile there is urgent work to be done by the new Auckland Council to put new measures together before 1 January 2012, when there will be no tree protection on private land, apart from the expensive, limited and time consuming procedure of scheduling or listing notable trees in the District Plan through a plan change,” says Sigrid Shayer

ENDS

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