Entrance to the Palm Beach section of the Te Ara ō Wairākei reserve. Photo / Talia Parker
Entrance to the Palm Beach section of the Te Ara ō Wairākei reserve. Photo / Talia Parker
A years-long stoush between Pāpāmoa residents and the Tauranga City Council over reserve plantings has a new battleground; the office of the Ombudsman of New Zealand's Parliament.
The Friends of the Palm Beach Reserve group has lodged an official complaint with the Ombudsman over the council's plantings project on thePalm Beach section of the Te Ara ō Wairākei stormwater reserve.
But the council says it has done all the consultation required, and community feedback "heavily influenced" the planting plan.
The Ombudsman is an independent party that handles complaints about the administrative conduct of public sector agencies.
The reserve group has long alleged the residents who live near the reserve were not properly consulted on the planting project.
Hall said he believed the council refused to accept that its consultation was "not up to scratch".
In terms of the plantings themselves, Hall did not think there was much hope for his cause.
"I don't know whether there's anything that can be done about the planting - it will be all planted... there's not much we can do to stop it," Hall said.
"Any complaint to the Ombudsman that is upheld will be a slap on the wrist to the council."
New plantings on the Te Ara ō Wairākei reserve. Photo / Talia Parker
Hall said the stories about lack of consultation in other places, in his view, showed "there is obviously some element of truthfulness to what we're saying to the Ombudsman; that we've got a point".
Hall feared the plantings would turn into "a mess of weeds" and the group was concerned the low-level plantings would be "an obstruction to the marine activities" in the reserve.
"And also it means in some cases people are not going to be able to sit under trees because there'll be planting under those - that's what I understood to be the purpose of the trees."
Hall questioned what the planting would do for the waterway.
New plantings on the Te Ara ō Wairākei reserve. Photo / Talia Parker
"I know there are a lot of comments that have been in the paper that it's just a bunch of wealthy people that have bought houses in that area getting their minds in a knot - but that's what they bought into, they bought into a lovely, beautified space."
The council's manager of drainage services Radleigh Cairns said it was yet to hear from the Ombudsman.
"Staff, contractors and commissioners have met with a number of residents and groups to discuss the landscape plan including the position of planted areas, the moving of specific trees or requests for additional trees," Cairns said.
"The current planting plan has been heavily influenced by the community feedback we have received with large areas of planting removed to enable access to water, while still allowing for some ecological and biodiversity improvements to remain."
Cairns said the Bay of Plenty Regional Council confirmed the consultation met resource consent requirements, and ongoing and improved maintenance was the "key focus".
The Ombudsman's office confirmed a complaint was being assessed.
Tauranga City Council's manager of drainage services Radleigh Cairns. Photo / Supplied
Ngā Pōtiki ā Tamapahore Trust chair Verna Gate said they, as the mana whenua of the area, were "focused on supporting, caring for and enhancing our natural and built environment, Te Taiao, which includes Te Ara ō Wairākei".
The trust's support and involvement in the project was an example of this as it would benefit the entire Pāpāmoa community, she said.
"We believe this planting initiative is an important part of preserving the natural habitat of an increasingly developed area".
About 30 trees had been planted so far. The approximate cost of the plantings will be $300,000.
Read More: Nga Potiki's Scott Yeoman on the history of the reserve
