The trees, planted on Arbour Day in the New Zealand centennial year of 1940, are of significance even if not heritage-listed, and the "whole" Taradale community should have been consulted, say Deering and fellow opponent Coni Schulze, who says there "must be other ways" of dealing with "risk factors" the council says are behind the plans.
Council spokesperson Mata said the trees are not identified under the District Plan as notable trees, and have been "a long running issue for the school".
He said the school board wrote to the council earlier this year with health and safety concerns, listing dead pigeons, rats, faecal matter, falling fronds and visibility issues at the pedestrian crossing, but Deering argues there have never been any safety issues.
The council says a letter was sent to Church Rd residents between Ngarimu Cr and Puketapu Rd, inviting them to a public meeting, the school also invited parents and interested parties, and there was a mixture of approval and opposition.
Mata said council staff did an early-evening Church Rd door-knock later in March to talk directly to affected residents, and a majority supported the move, which includes the building of a shared pathway for walkers, scooters and cyclists.
A further Church Rd door-knock took place on April 4 and the NCC also received emails and phone calls from Church Rd residents, most expressing support for the school's request to remove the trees, Mata said.
"The project team has now spoken to most residents in this section of Taradale, and from the feedback gathered it is clear that there is overwhelming and strong support to remove the trees," he said.
A member of the team also last week spoke with the "small" number of residents who had objected, to update them personally, Mata said.
Schulze says the "small group" of people who attended the meeting at the school last month "largely" spoke in favour of retaining the trees, and that "good solutions" were offered to answer the health and safety concerns.
She says people at the meeting believed the pathway was "the real agenda," but that was refuted by council representatives who she says told the meeting the trees were safe until further discussion, leading residents to believe the project would mot be going ahead so soon.