Huge tree falls on to driveway

CHOP,CHOP:Dom Rogan cuts down the remainder of an old oak tree, after rot caused part of it to come crashing down. PHOTOS/LEWIS GARDNER

Ted Downing was sitting in his living room on Sunday afternoon when he heard "a hell of a crack like a rifle going off", and a huge oak tree fall on to the driveway of the retirement complex where he lives.

"I saw a great tree falling over into our place - an over 100-year-old oak tree.

"The other half looked very dangerous, it was leaning the wrong way," said Mr Downing who was worried about the safety of passing pedestrians in Oakland Ave in St John's Hill and called emergency services.

"This street in the late afternoon becomes a zimmerframe grand prix - it's a busy street," he said. "It's very fortunate that somebody wasn't injured or killed."

The fire service answered the call and headed out to the Abingdon Villas complex where a limb of the tree had come down.

Mr Downing had seen the Villas' caretaker running by only minutes before the tree came down and was worried he had been hit and trapped under it.

Emergency services searched for a while before finding the man safely in his home.

"He was home happily with the walkman in his ear - until cops walked into his room," Mr Downing said.

"It was a tree that they thought was safe - it was a misshapen thing that over the years had been badly pruned to clear power lines. It makes you wonder whether powerlines should be underground.

"The management of trees in Wanganui needs investigating ... some trees along here need topping."

But arborist Andrew MacDonald, who was helping to cut up and remove the fallen tree yesterday, said topping was the reason the tree fell down in the first place.

"The tree fell because of years of topping - rot has got into the main part of the trunk."

He said topping trees allowed water to get in. "It just encourages rot.

"The council wanted to have these trees taken out but the neighbours caused a big stink."

There was no easy fix to the situation, Mr MacDonald said, with the only options being to either put utilities underground or not plant trees that grew so high.

Mr Downing said he would hate to see the road become "Oakless Avenue".

"I like it being Oakland Avenue - it is one of the nicest areas in Wanganui, and it wouldn't be the same if they were all removed."

Wanganui District Council senior parks officer Wendy Bainbridge said arborists cleared the driveway on Sunday evening and removed the remainder of the tree yesterday.

"The wound left by the fallen limb exposed the centre of the main trunk which showed that the wood was rotten," she said. "As is sometimes the case, this had not been obvious.

"It is likely that this limb failed as a result of pruning techniques used, particularly to meet electrical line clearance regulations, which opens up the canopy and weakens it."

A maintenance plan is in place and the trees continue to be monitored, she said.

"Over the past three years a number of trees had to be removed. Where possible, and at the request of residents, replacement trees have been planted. However, due to the width of the berm and the presence of underground and overhead services, there is very limited room for oak trees to be planted in the way that they were originally along Oakland Avenue."