Treeless zone joins woes on agenda

The fate of all the trees on the Golden Mile will be reviewed. Picture / Paul Estcourt

A treeless zone in lower Queen St will be reviewed when Auckland City councillors hold an emergency meeting next week to decide the fate of the 20 tagged trees further up the Golden Mile.

Save Auckland Trees spokeswoman Lesley Max was happy with plans to review each of the tagged trees between Mayoral Drive and Wellesley St - but anxious about the fate of trees in the next stages of the $30 million Queen St upgrade where tree removal would create a "treeless, concrete wasteland".

She said the group was most concerned about council plans to remove trees altogether between Shortland St and Customs St to signify that this area was reclaimed from the sea.

Instead there would be large planter basins with a changing array of native plants to add colour, vibrancy and seasonal change to Queen St.

The area at present has 13 exotic trees and 10 native cabbage trees.

Councillor Neil Abel yesterday said the council needed to review all the trees in Queen St at the emergency meeting on January 17, not just the 20 tagged trees in stage one.

Arts, community and recreation general manager Jill McPherson said officers would recommend that the council follow the same process for stage one in reviewing each tree for stages two and three.

There was more time to review stages two and three, she said. Stage two, which includes the fate of the 23 trees between Shortland St and Customs St, is due to start in April.

Dr McPherson said Gordon Ikin, the arborist hired by the project architect Architectus, had completed an audit of the trees for stage two between Customs St and Victoria St.

Details of the trees tagged for removal or relocation would be made public today.

The council will decide whether to consult the public or publicly notify resource consents to remove other trees in Queen St.

Mr Abel said he believed the tree issue had been overlooked in the bigger picture of the Queen St upgrade, which had thrown up concerns about parking, traffic, paving, canopies and cost. Council documents show the first round of public consultation in 2004 indicated major concerns with parking, traffic and pedestrian facilities.

Several traffic and parking ideas were dropped and new pedestrian canopies were proposed for a revised design, released last March. Feedback on that design drew 730 comments, including 243 on pedestrian issues, 121 on traffic and 63 on parking. There were 49 comments about the trees and planting, including keeping the exotic trees and more greenery.

Mr Abel said it was clear from the trees furore that more effort should have been spent addressing the issue.