Commissioners responsible for drawing up Papakura's list of notable trees have criticised the method used to assess how 5000 Auckland trees are protected.
The council has relied on district plan scheduling to protect trees since a change to the Resource Management Act revoked blanket protection in January.
In a decision on the council's bid to add 58 trees or groups of trees to the protected list, commissioners Greg Hill, William Kapea and Kerry Connolly say the "standard tree evaluation method" (Stem) does not take into account a tree's effects on owners and neighbours.
The method, which compares the merits of trees on a point system, was used to compile a list of 1800 from the 5000 nominated for protection in the region's district plans.
Papakura is the first area to get a decision from the regional round of hearings this year, at which hundreds of Aucklanders gave their views.