Editorial: Courage of convictions admirable

Mark Story.

It's difficult to find merit in felling trees that have weathered the better part of a century.

The one (and only) solid reason, tabled among others of a more tenuous nature by Hawke's Bay Regional Council ahead of condemning select poplar and walnut trees in Havelock North, is that they posed a threat to safety.

Certain residents at Mary Doyle retirement complex, whose rooms are adjacent to where the trees are situated, claimed they offered too much shade. If the species weren't deciduous, or if the Bay didn't have an average 2,250 sunshine hours a year, they'd have a point. Either way, Rachel Coxhead didn't think there were any valid reasons and yesterday chained herself to a massive walnut tree in an attempt to save it from the early morning chop.

It made me think back to my trip to Shanghai a few years back, where it was observed local authorities designed buildings around existing trees, even staggering powerlines to accommodate old specimens. The People's Republic stands in stark contrast to our country, where for whatever reason we don't exhibit the same botanical reverence.

Turns out Ms Coxhead may have missed the fact the council had decided to spare the very tree she chained herself to.

But her motivation was noble; she's been collecting walnuts from this tree for 30 years. "When my kids were young we didn't have a lot of money so these trees were a great food source."

It's a battle most wouldn't be inclined to fight. But that's why it's admirable. While it might be only symbolic, and deemed daft by many, anyone brave enough to have the courage of their convictions is rare enough to be praised.

So, too, the council, who compromised by saving a tree of both huge yield and value to many local residents.