Fresh calls to cut down stand of large trees in Pāpāmoa reserve

There are renewed calls by some Pāpāmoa residents to have a stand of six mature pine trees in a neighbouring reserve cut down for "nuisance and safety" reasons.

Others want to see the trees stay.

Tauranga City Council has fielded requests from Ella Plc neighbours to remove the trees at least twice before - in 2013 and 2014.

This week Ella Plc resident Ian Craib raised the matter again with the council's environment committee, who agreed to have the chief executive's office look into it.

In the meeting, councillor Larry Baldock said the clear decision in 2013 was to remove the trees, with the only sticking point who would pay.

In March 2014 the city vision committee declined a request by the Evans Rd Community Church's property manager to remove the trees, citing concerns about setting a bad precedent and depriving the community of an important landscape feature.

Craib said he had three main reasons for raising the subject of removing the trees again.

The first was the "nuisance factor".

"These 28.5m high trees produce large quantities of needles and falling debris and it is not uncommon for me to have to sweep up five to six buckets at a time," he said.

Craib said he and other property owners directly downwind of the trees, as well as the church, wanted to see the trees come down.

The towering trees also created heavy shading and pollen allergies for some residents, including a couple who lived two doors down who were left in total shade during the winter, he said.

"We seriously love these trees but they are the wrong trees and not appropriate in this area. I would love them even more if the trees were 200m from our boundary fence, rather than the 28m away," he said.

He did not realise what a hassle they would be when he moved in.

Craib said the trees were also dangerous in heavy gales. One of the original seven was blown down in a storm and ended up in the Evans Rd Church car park.

"It was only sheer luck no one was hurt," he said.

Craib said the cost of removing the trees should be the council's responsibility.

"Collectively we have already spent thousands of dollars to have protective guard systems installed in our roof guttering," he said.

One neighbouring resident said she would not want to see the trees cut down, but if they were she wanted to them replaced with something of a similar size.

Angela Gray, who moved into Ella Plc a year-and-half-ago, said she was not directly affected by falling debris or pollen but understood the angst of other residents.

"But I would really be upset to see these trees to come down. They're really quite spectacular and are home to lots of birds and are the only mature trees in the area.

"They are pretty big and grow like weeds and could certainly be topped a bit to make them less of a nuisance, but I would hate to see these landmark trees come down."