Residents call on Whangārei council to cut down 34 magnolia trees

Brentwood Avenue residents want their street's magnolias gone. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Residents in a Kamo cul-de-sac want an avenue of 34 magnolia trees cut down in the wake of two broken arms, a twisted ankle, falls and more.

Brentwood Ave residents say the up to 7m high magnolia grandifloras along their street's berms cause health and safety concerns and affect their quality of life.

Resident Rebecca Van Altvorst said the footpath has become too dangerous to take her husband out in a wheelchair to walk along the street in the sun.

"It's really quite dangerous," Van Altvorst said.

Rebecca Van Altvorst (81) no longer takes her husband for a wheelchair walk as the magnolias have pushed up the edges of her cobblestoned driveway and footpath. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Brentwood Ave's footpaths in many places are broken and uneven as the 27-year-old magnolias' roots wind their way underneath, cracking the surface. The roots are invading stormwater drains, gardens and driveways.

Whangarei District Council (WDC) has told residents they must pay for their own driveway repairs.

Resident Roy Halford recently paid $2000 to fix the footpath outside his property where it crosses his driveway.

"We like the trees, but we don't like what they do," Halford said.

Roy Halford had to pay $2000 to fix his driveway where it crossed the council footpath damaged by the magnolia tree behind him. Photo / Michael Cunningham

In December resident Terry Knight cut down two of the magnolias outside his house on the council-owned berm - and now has an outstanding $500-plus Whangarei District Council (WDC) fine, which he said he is not going to pay.

"Other residents approached us after Terry had cut down our magnolias, asking for him to do the same with theirs," Jan Knight said.

Terry and Jan Knight alongside what's left of one of the magnolias on their berm, after Terry cut it down in December and is now facing a $500-plus council fine. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Another Brentwood Ave resident's family engaged a lawyer to try to get magnolias outside her house removed. Roots are pushing up the driveway interfering with the operation of her electrically-controlled driveway gate.

Resident Lynda Goulden said roots from the magnolia on the berm outside had grown six metres into her property reaching through the lawn to her garage.

Lynda Goulden discovered roots from the roadside magnolia behind her had grown into her property as far as the garage on her left when she did a garden upgrade. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Sue Hodge, WDC parks and recreation manager said removing a street of trees was not common. It had only been done twice before in Whangārei.

"Removing a full street of trees is unusual and an emotive issue," Hodge said.

The council will discuss the issue at a council briefing meeting today ahead of a full council meeting on January 23. That meeting could see the council decide to allow for their removal.

WDC's tree policy requires council approval for mass removal of avenues of trees such as those in Brentwood Ave, as such an action is outside what is allowable in relevant council policy without councillors' approval.

Residents will need to pay for the removal of the trees, should the council allow that to happen.

"Residents have been advised that council does not have budget for the removal and the residents would need to fund this themselves," Hodge said.

WDC said it would cost $18,720 to cut down the 34 magnolias and replace them with alternatives.

Residents said they were willing to pay for the trees' removal and replacement.

They were not, however, willing to pay the cost of resource consent required to do the job.

Resident Sheryl Cromie said there were 20 Brentwood Ave properties affected by the berm trees with roots causing ongoing and worsening issues.

Residents first started trying to get something done about the trees five years ago, their efforts ramping up in about the last year.

Cromie said two women had broken their arms and another person had twisted their ankle after tripping on tree-affected uneven footpaths.

Cracked payments from Brentwood Avenue's 27-year-old magnolia trees. Photo / Michael Cunningham

She said a number of residents from Jane Mander retirement village at the end of their street walked along Brentwood Ave.

She said one man had fallen after his walker became stuck on the magnolias' fallen seed pods.

Knight said 80 per cent of the retirement village residents walking along Brentwood Ave now walked along the road rather than the footpath.

Hodge said the trees were not the right option for their location.

The street was developed in the mid-nineties, and the trees were planted around that time.

WDC street amenity planting controls were not as robust at that time as they are now, Hodge said.

WDC has received numerous complaints about the footpath, repairing it with temporary asphalt wedges over the years that have not fixed the problem.

Whangārei mayor Sheryl Mai and councillors met with the Brentwood Ave community on March 11 to hear further about the problem.

Cromie said the situation needed fixing. It would only become worse and cost the council as its infrastructure became more impacted.

She said magnolia tree roots had got inside one property's drainage, causing stormwater to back up and flow into the house. There was a mat of roots inside the pipes when they were open.

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