Two trees are to be felled in a Gate Pa reserve and a downtown elm tree topped by three metres after Tauranga City councillors sympathised with aggrieved residents.
Yesterday's meeting of the council's city vision committee was persuaded by arguments from Cook St residents who petitioned the council to remove two mexican pine trees from Anzac Park.
The council was asked to rule on the petition by city arborist Richard Conning who said the request was inconsistent with the council's tree management policy, sparking suggestions that the policy needed to be reviewed.
The council unanimously agreed that the trees planted by Gate Pa School pupils 60 years ago were a health and safety risk.
Petitioners said that what seemed like a good idea to beautify the park had grown to a massive size and were proving to be a misery for the occupants of the houses that backed onto the park boundary.