Residents heed tree warnings, line risks

COMING DOWN: A Treescape worker cuts down an old gum tree at a Masterton property. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Property owners around Wairarapa are heeding Powerco's safety warnings to keep trees near powerlines maintained, especially during storm season.

Masterton resident Catherine Graham had an old gum tree on her Upper Plain property cut down this week after hearing about Powerco's scheme to pay for the first maintenance cut for trees growing too close to powerlines.

Mrs Graham said the process to cut down the gum tree - more than twice as high as the nearby powerlines - took three and a half hours but she was "very pleased the decision was made".

"We moved here in '88 and the tree was here then so it's been here for a long, long time," she said.

Mrs Graham had always been concerned about the gum especially after a tree on her property was brought down a few years ago during a storm when she was out of town.

"We've been thinking about getting the tree trimmed for a while but it was too daunting to comprehend what we would have to do.

"We were thinking, how do we even start to get this tree trimmed?

"So we heard about Powerco's scheme and called up and we qualified for it so Treescape came on Tuesday and trimmed all the branches for us.

"I'm not sure how tall our tree was but it would have been more than twice the height of the powerlines.

"It was fascinating watching Treescape work so carefully to remove the branches piece by piece.

"The whole time I was saying to the man, 'Don't hit my five finger!'

"But they were really so professional, it was great," Mrs Graham said.

She said she was sad to see the old gums go but knew that "they were just not safe anymore".

"I definitely think it's really important to be aware of how dangerous it can be having trees grow so close to powerlines," she said.

"When we moved here all the trees were already planted, and the man from Treescape was saying that apparently even if the tree is not touching the powerline it can still conduct electricity if it's growing too close."

Mrs Graham now has an abundance of fire wood for the winter which she said was just one of the benefits.