Rotorua businesses back removal of dangerous central city trees

A stump remains where a large sweet gum tree was felled on Amohia St. Photo / Mathew Nash

The removal of four large trees in central Rotorua has been welcomed by neighbouring businesses.

Four sweet gum trees were felled this week, with a section of Amohia St closed from Monday until Wednesday to allow for their removal.

Despite social media backlash regarding the environmental impact of removing the trees, Rotorua Lakes Council says it did so under a health and safety recommendation from experts.

“The trees have been showing signs of potential limb branch failures as they have aged and the size and weight of these limbs would require us to continually increase maintenance of the tree canopies,” the council’s parks and open spaces manager Rob Pitkethley said.

This, along with their busy location, meant removal and eventual replacement with a more suitable species was the best option, Pitkethley said.

The road, which has been damaged by underground tree roots, will be resealed first.

Pruning and root management was not considered as it could have “destabilised” the trees in strong winds.

“This is the most practical, safe and sustainable solution.”

He said local businesses showed “overwhelming support” for the decision, but the public was not consulted as it was a health and safety issue.

Trish Butterworth, 56, was killed when the historic 23-metre Spencer’s Oak split and fell on her car during a storm just a few hundred metres away on the corner of Arawa and Amohia Sts.

The coroner called it a “tragic accident” and recommended the council adopt a formal tree-management policy, improve inspections and maintain a public tree register.

Butterworth had visited BOP Drycleaners shortly before the incident and the store’s owner, who did not want to be named, said removing unsafe trees was “the sensible thing” to do.

“It was horrendous, especially for the family,” she said.

“The council obviously got professional advice with the one outside our shop the most dangerous and that’s why that one was taken down first.

“This was the correct thing to do.”

Flowers placed in the stump of the tree which fell and killed Trish Butterworth in Rotorua in January 2018. Photo / Ben Fraser

Rotorua Rug Company owner Neil Comrie was pleased to see the “dangerous” trees go.

“We had a near miss back about two months ago with one big branch coming down,” Comrie said.

“They’re such a pain with the leaves in the autumn, they block everything and we get floods.”

Angie Parris’ sewing and alteration business Strawberry Stitches has operated in the shadow of the giant trees for 11 years. But she is not going to miss them.

“It’s nothing but a bonus for us,” Parris said. “Those trees were too big, too old and dangerous.”

She has spent every winter clearing debris from the tree, which has also caused flooding and, in some cases, nearly caused damage to her car.

“I’m a tree-lover,” Parris said.

“By all means go to a park and give a tree a big hug, but not in the middle of town.”

She praised the speed and efficiency of the work and said the removal had also brightened up the street.

“I can see the light,” she said. “It looks bigger and more open.”

She would like to see a native tree, such as a kōwhai, as a replacement.

The council’s next steps will be to remove the remaining stumps and to prepare the area for new trees.

How much the work cost would cost is not yet available but would come from the annual tree maintenance budget.

Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.