The death knell has sounded on the stunted remains of Tauranga's once mighty aspen tree.
A close 6-5 vote by the Tauranga City Council decided the fate of the 146-year-old landmark tree that dates back to the Battle of Gate Pa.
The future of the formerly magnificent tree, on its own reservein Willow St, looked in doubt when a massive branch crashed to the ground on January 17, exposing just how far rot had spread.
With a mere 10cm wide circumference of live wood supporting the tree, it was going to have to be cut back to a stump in order to survive in safety - a process called pollarding.
Some councillors wanted to give the aspen this last chance and then allow it to regenerate from there.
However, parks team manager Steve Webb said that even if the stump grew back into a reasonable canopy, it would still have to be cut back to a pollard every couple of years.
Although it was hard to know how long the aspen would survive by pollarding, he was confident it would live for another five years.
The aspen, actually a necklace poplar, was reputed to have grown from a switch of wood stuck into the ground by a mounted colonial trooper.
In a similar way, the council will now take a cutting from the aspen and plant it where the tree now stands so that future generations of Tauranga people can enjoy another landmark tree.
Cr Murray Guy moved that the aspen be removed and replaced with a cutting, saying he wanted to remember it as an awesome and proud tree, not as a limbless stump. He suggested timber from the tree could be used to make garden art and furniture for the park.
He was supported by Mayor Stuart Crosby who said the aspen had lost its significance and it would be an embarrassment to leave it as a stump.
"It has been a feature of our city for a long time, but like everything, trees die. We need to finish off this era of the aspen tree and start a new one."
