Auckland’s leafy future in doubt
‘‘The question is, when the current notable trees die, what will replace them?’’
The idea that Auckland has a lush urban forest with thousands of iconic trees could one day wither.
Arborist Sean Freeman says young trees in Auckland, that could one day become notable, have little protection from the axe following changes to the law in September 2015.
The changes came through amendments to the Resource Management Act (RMA) which lifted the blanket tree protection in urban areas.
For a tree to now have protection it must be within a reserve, a designated special ecological area, a riparian buffer or a coastal strip.
Protection of individual trees is now only available through scheduling under the recommended Unitary Plan.
But Freeman says the bar to be scheduled is so high it is effectively excluding any new younger trees.
‘‘The question is, when the current notable trees die, what will replace them?’’
A nominated tree must meet a range of criteria to be included on the schedule. This includes heritage, scientific and cultural value.
The Tree Council, which Freeman chairs, made a joint submission with Royal Forest & Bird and Environmental Defence Society to the Unitary Plan Hearings Panel. The three societies proposed a sec- ond tier of scheduling for future notable trees to be included in the Unitary Plan.
‘‘This second tier would not mean the trees had outright protection, it would have just created a planning pause to assess the tree.’’
The second tier proposal has not been included in the recommended Unitary Plan.
‘‘The Unitary Plan was never going to be able to reverse the RMA changes and as such we had no illusions over just what the new planning scheme might cover.
‘‘But we will now watch our heritage trees decline and die as they age with no means to protect their younger replacements.’’
There are currently more than 6000 scheduled trees and groups of trees in Auckland.
Despite the vast majority of trees not being protected Auckland Council advises people still check before they chop.
Call the council on 301 0101 to check the status of a tree or go to aucklandcouncil.govt.nz and search ‘‘tree rules’’ for more information.