Brian Rudman: Sallies' good works will keep 'gift of creation' as haven for all

Charities often remark that it is the poor who are the most generous of givers, so the Salvation Army's plan to, in effect, gift Rotoroa Island as a public park should come as no surprise.

Not that the Sallies' living up to our expectations should in any way lessen Aucklanders' gratitude for this public-spirited gesture.

By its very nature, as a provider of charitable services, the Salvation Army is perpetually poor.

If it had decided to sell this valuable 82.5ha Hauraki Gulf island to the highest bidder in order to better finance its good works, it would have been truly churlish to have criticised the decision. But in December a church leader told me they wanted this "gift of creation" to continue as an "asset to the community", and that's what's now going to happen.

Initially the church had hoped to generate some income from the island after the closure of its historic drug rehabilitation retreat to help fund its church and welfare activities. But these profit-taking plans have now been set aside.

All that's being sought now is sufficient income to ensure the island becomes self-sustaining as a public park and residential retreat.

The income will come from two sources; the first, from the ongoing payments from a 99-year lease over the whole island granted to newly formed Rotoroa Island Trust. This trust is fronted by art dealer John Gow, who represents the anonymous donor family who are paying an unknown amount for the lease.

The rest of the income will come from planned 99-year leases on 10 "privatised" sections occupying around 8.2ha at the island's northern end.

Leasing off a corner of a property to ensure ongoing income for a public domain is hardly a novel concept in the Auckland context. Cornwall Park is an obvious precedent.

In an ideal world, it would have been nice to turn the whole island into a public park, but the reality is that the public purse for such purchases is not unlimited.

The only obstacle now is getting planning permission for the change of use from the Auckland City Council. I can't imagine that being too difficult, given the generosity involved on the part of the Salvation Army and the anonymous funder.

The plans for Rotoroa include a lot of tree-planting. In the wide open spaces of the gulf, I can't imagine any neighbours complaining about that.

But back on the mainland, my recent reflections on the lack of controls on planting trees on small suburban sections struck a raw nerve.

Here are some extracts. I won't include names, for fear of further exacerbating neighbourhood tensions.

* "Four years ago my neighbour chose to plant a Norfolk pine, two gum trees and several other large trees just six inches from our common boundary. Most inconsiderate and only possible due to lack of common sense council regulation."

* "My neighbours and I suffer loss of sun, falling leaves, a hemmed-in feeling, with huge flame trees overshadowing our properties. A branch has already fallen through my bedroom window so when the wind blows we live in fear. During the recent storms I contacted the police, council and citizens' advice bureau, to be told nothing could be done."

* "Auckland City Council is more interested in saving the life of a tree than the life of a citizen. On an adjoining property a neighbour had 5 Chinese poplars over 20m tall ... A few months ago one of these trees fell over and damaged two adjoining properties. These trees have been inspected by an arborist and the Auckland City arborist and they agree they are dangerous and should come down. The owner is not interested ... A dangerous dog is put down promptly but a dangerous tree is left alone ..."

* "A neighbour plants a tree in a location that allows its roots to invade your garden, its boughs project into your property and the shadow it causes prevents the sun reaching your solar water heater. You have no rights to deal with these intrusions. If your neighbour's dog regularly invades your property, dog control will deal with the problem. If a neighbour destroys your acoustic privacy with loud parties, noise control will take action. But trees are sacrosanct."

A politician looking for an election issue might do well to jump on board this bandwagon.