Ageing trees in domain for the chop

An aerial photograph of the Clarke Memorial Domain, Mauriceville.PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Ten mature pines and two macrocarpa trees bordering the entrance to Clarke Memorial Domain, Mauriceville, are to be felled at a cost of $12,830.

Masterton District Council has signed off on a contract with Timber Yard to have the trees on the south side of the entranceway, and deemed to have reached the end of their life, cut down.

The contractors will take sawlogs and firewood from the site but some wood will be donated to the Mauriceville community to be split into firewood and sold for fundraising.

According to the council the felling of the trees became necessary when it was determined in 2012 that they needed "a great deal of deadwooding and broken branch removal".

Next autumn the area where the trees stood will be replanted partly to guard against any risk of erosion on the steep slope leading down from the driveway into the domain.

Council spokesman Sam Rossiter-Stead said all Mauriceville households were written to in October and told of the plan, the scope of the project and the reasons for it.

"To date we have had only one reply from the 170 letters sent out.

"We have, however, been contacted by several community and service groups regarding the firewood for fundraising."

The tree felling is part of a three-pronged project for the domain.

A new water tank has already been installed to upgrade the water supply capacity at the pavilion during events.

"The old header tanks didn't keep up with demand, so a tank has been installed beside the pavilion to enable a more reliable supply," Mr Rossiter-Stead said.

An old overhead electricity cable has been declared to be at the end of its life and will be replaced with an underground line to be laid through council land, rather than encroaching on neighbouring properties.

Mr Rossiter-Stead said a tender had been accepted for the job and that work on the new line was planned to begin early in the new year.