Streetscape still a thorny issue for Dannevirke residents

After three rounds of consultation by the Dannevirke Community Board, there are still questions being asked about the replanting of trees on Victoria Ave and adjoining streets.

The London Plane trees were removed in 2013, by now district councillor Ernie Christison and it's taken until now to finally agree on what will be planted to enhance the streetscape in the Avenue and King, Edward and Cole Sts.

After consultation, the community board agreed to go ahead with Magnolia Michelia, an evergreen tree, but Tararua District councillor Jim Crispin told councillors he's hearing from residents who don't want the trees at all.

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Councillor Carole Isaacson, who was involved in the consultation over five years, said more people were in favour of the replanting than were against.

And Christison also helped in consulting residents, having canvassed the streets, and he said former Tararua District mayor Roly Ellis, who now lives in Victoria Ave, wasn't happy about trees being replanted.

"He's got me booked in to cut the next lot down," he told councillors at their monthly meeting recently.

"Trees belong in the forest and instead of planted on the street, we should give people who want trees one to plant on their front lawn."

Ellis told the Dannevirke News he was against the replanting of trees, had asked council not to plant one outside his Victoria Ave home and said he believed the trees could become a safety hazard.

"Anyone backing out of their driveway will now have a concrete power pole and a tree in their way," he said.

"It's ridiculous they (council) are planting these trees on the road where they will muck up the drains. I can't understand it."

And he shook his head in disbelief at the assertion from council that birds would eat all the berries.

"The trees might be evergreens but the buds, along with the berries will fall and block the drains," he said.

Richard Taylor, council's governance manager, said Ellis' address had been added to a list of where trees wouldn't be planted.

"The decision to replant has gone through council's Long Term Plan and there has been some rigor around the process," he said.

Council has agreed to fund $50,000 of replanting in the affected streets but this was unlikely to happen before next autumn, Taylor said.

Magnolia Michelia is an evergreen tree, which has brown velvet buds before flowering in the spring and red berries in the summer.

"The berries are readily eaten by the birds and this tree has a single trunk which can be kept pruned into a good shape," Ross MacDonald, the community board chairman, said.

The trees will be planted on the roadside along Victoria Ave and King, Edward and Cole Sts, using root trainers and fitted with protective cages, similar to those on Dannevirke's High St.

There will be 16 trees planted in Victoria Ave, 16 in King St, 14 in Edwards St and four in Cole St.

Tararua District Council has provided $50,000 to restore the character and ambiance of the "avenue" and the other streets affected by the removal of the trees and the decision to go ahead, five years later, comes after a series of consultations with street residents.

Despite initial concerns, Tararua District mayor Tracey Collis, agreed that the consultation for the replanting had been "exhaustive."