Tree, totem, MP's head?

Herald readers give their views on what sort of tree should replace the ailing pine on One Tree Hill.

As a proud Aucklander I think that we should all have a say about how our city is going to develop. I think that the best tree for One Tree Hill would be a pohutukawa. I love pohutukawa and their gorgeous flower. One Tree Hill would look magnificent when the tree was in full bloom.

I also think there should be only one tree on the hill because if there was more than one it would defeat the purpose of the name.

Kate Moses, Diocesan School for Girls.

My vote is for a pohutukawa. Given the climate up there, it stands the best chance of reaching old age. It is also a tree that both Maori and Pakeha cultures have embraced - its blossoms being connected with Christmas - and it would have its profile heightened as a protected species. Finally, it's more of a people-friendly tree. You can climb them.

Chris Evans, Eden Terrace.

I think we should make a big abstract totara tree out of steel or aluminium. It would last forever and can't be chopped down and won't need looking after.

Stephen Petterson.

Put a totara back on the hill. Also a plaque acknowledging/honouring Mike Smith's actions as being instrumental in the restitution of a more appropriate tree than a Monterey pine. To me, Mike Smith is far more noble than the "Father of Auckland," Sir John Logan Campbell.

Mike Smith is one of the most humble, self-effacing and strong men I have had the honour to meet. His integrity is unassailable; his actions say it all.

Jim Gladwin, water protester.

Mike Smith had it right. I vote Prebble's head as the ideal replacement for the sick tree on the hill.

Mark, Wellington.

Some recent reports in the Herald on the history of One Tree Hill have been wrong in some details. An article states that "photographs from early last century show three pines" on the summit. The same claim has been made on previous occasions. Only three pines remained standing on the summit after a severe storm in the mid-1930s which blew down many trees all over Auckland, including many on the slopes of One Tree Hill. Prior to that there were definitely five pines on the summit, as Brian Rudman stated in his column on the subject. Certainly three of the five were weak and spindly specimens not worth keeping.

However, Brian Rudman is wrong when he states that the obelisk was unveiled in 1948. As a young teenage school boy I climbed the obelisk scaffold to the top when it was under construction. That would have to have been some time around 1934. I was no longer a teenager in 1948 but overseas in Europe.

With regards to a replacement tree, a pohutukawa may have a better chance of survival, but a totara would be a more appropriate sentinel.

Malcolm McKenzie.

Why not have a huge "totem" pole created by New Zealanders, carved by both Maori and European carvers? Well done for asking for others' input.

June Clarke.

In my opinion there should be a totara planted atop One Tree Hill with a patch of natives planted somewhere in Cornwall Park, including totara, rimu, pohutukawa, puriri etc.

Matt Donaldson.

I am left saddened by the impending loss of one of Auckland's best-known landmarks. It seems unfair that we are to be robbed of something that has been part of the view on the horizon for longer than pretty much all of us have been alive.

For whatever reason the attackers choose to explain their actions, in my opinion they did not have justification enough and surely there are more effective ways of getting your point across in a positive manner than felling a well-known tree. Nevertheless, we're faced with the task of supplanting one icon with another that will be criticised for as long as this generation lives.

On the replacement itself, it could well be that a totara will not grow on the hill because tapu was desecrated when the "Goth of a settler" felled the original. If tapu could be restored to the site by the local kaumatua, then for my money another totara would not only be culturally, but also historically, the most appropriate choice for the replacement.

If not, then why not have another pine like we have there currently? Surely it has survived long and hard enough (chainsaws not withstanding) to prove that longevity is not a problem for its breed in those conditions?

But when it's all decided and there is again a healthy tree in that location, more than likely some idiot will be so offended by something that this replacement too will feel the cold steel of the chainsaw ripping the life from its limbs and we will have to go through the whole saga again.

Lance Hill, Papakura.