Public to have say on tree plan trim

Photo / George Novak

New rules are proposed to end years of Tauranga City Council politicians ordering trees to be felled against the advice of staff.

The council decides tomorrow to take the reviewed Vegetation and Tree Management Policy out for public consultation.

It covers all trees on council-owned land including roadsides and parks.

Council strategic planner Emlyn Hatch said the aim was to make the policy more consistent and pragmatic, the council feeling decisions were being made outside the policy because the policy lacked flexibility.

The proposed new policy took a more scientific approach to issues raised regularly by residents when they opposed trees, including the introduction of the Ogren Plant-Allergy Scale.

It sought to protect Tauranga's mature trees and support juvenile trees to reach maturity provided the mature trees were "relevant for their specific location".

Staff would work with residents to ensure "appropriate outcomes" were achieved.

The policy stated trees and vegetation in public places were important to mitigate the impact of housing intensification.

"Vegetation on private land can make a significant contribution to the amenity of the city." The new policy recognised the importance of conserving significant groups of trees as well as stand-alone trees as a way to safeguard neighbourhood character.

The highest priority for conservation was older trees and those critical to Tauranga's tree framework, such as those lining major roads.

It permitted the removal of trees provided a council arborist agreed the tree or trees posed a threat to people's health or safety, or threatened public or private property.

If a request to remove a tree met none of the criteria, the final discretion lay with the council's chief executive.

The policy set limits on the neighbourhood consultation area where trees were proposed to be removed.

It ranged up to 100m for "general tree matters" and up to 200m for petitions. The limit for particularly large or prominent trees would be set by the City Arborist.

Public consultation will begin about October 1.

It will include stakeholder presentations and drop-in sessions.

The main changes to Tauranga's tree management policy

• Consistent measures to assess tree issues such as an allergy scale and a pollen calendar.
• A more formal and structured approach to deal with residents on tree issues.
• More flexibility around decision-making.
• More consideration of social wellbeing. Strikes a balance between the public benefit and amenity of high-quality trees and the negative impacts.
• More discretion around allocating costs to prune and remove trees.