Elms succumb to old age

The Far North lost one of its most attractive avenues of historic trees on Friday, when time finally caught up with the historic elms lining State Highway 1 at Pakaraka.

The trees could date back to the time Marianne Williams had the nearby Church of the Holy Trinity built in the memory of her husband, the pioneer missionary Henry Williams. The church opened in 1873, replacing an earlier one built in 1850-51.

The six remaining roadside elms were cut down on Thursday, both lanes of the highway closing to traffic briefly as each one fell. Clean-up and stump grinding continued on Friday, and more work is scheduled for this week to prepare the shoulder for a replanting ceremony on Friday. They will be replaced with English oaks.

It had been hoped to use seedlings from heritage oaks growing nearby, but none that were suitable could be found.

Northland Treeworks manager Ben Howell said the elms had been monitored for several years, an inspection last year by climbers equipped with probes finding them to be in an advanced state of decline. "The climbers weren't too keen to go up again, they were that unstable," he said.

It was always a shame when old trees had to come down but the elms were threatening public safety, the road and church property, he added.

It took five hours to drop the trees, Mr Howell saying later that it had been sad to seem them cut down, but he was gratified that his firm's analysis of the risk they had presented had been vindicated. The worst of them had been entirely hollow, and all had pockets of rot where decay and disease had entered via old wounds.

It was hard to say how much longer they might have lasted before being blown down, but they had already begun showing signs of major limb failures. Any useable timber would got to a local cabinetmaker.

NZTA regional asset manager Steve Mutton said the contractors had consulted extensively before felling the trees, including with the Historic Places Trust, Oromahoe hapu and the church.

"It's regrettable that these trees have to be removed," he said, "however they do need to come down because they are a hazard, and there's an unacceptable risk to road users if one of them, or a big branch, falls during heavy rain or strong winds."

The good news was that the original trees that were still standing along the churchyard boundary were in better condition, and were not threatening the highway.

The New Zealand Transport Agency, not the Far North District Council, had responsibility for the elms because they lined a state highway.

Henry Williams is buried in the churchyard, along with other notable figures in the Bay of Islands' early history. The great warrior chief Hone Heke was also buried nearby, on what used to be Henry Williams' estate, but his remains were moved in 2011 when a new subdivision encroached on the site.