Axe claims 100-year-old Wairarapa tree

FELLED: Liesl Gamby says she's disgusted about the felling and claims it has been done without consultation with the community.PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

A group of Eketahuna residents is up in arms after a 100-year-old tree was felled on a popular walking track and then fell 50m into the Makakahi River below.

Bridge St resident Denise Clifton and friend Liesl Gamby are "disgusted" about the felling which they say has been done without consultation with the community.

They also say the felling has caused damage to the cliff face and the habitat of many native birds which lived in the tree.

Tararua District Council chief executive Blair King says he'd be surprised if the community hadn't been advised about the felling and only trees deemed a danger are removed.

Cliff Walkway was opened in 1911 to commemorate King George V and Queen Mary. It runs above the Makakahi River on the western side of Eketahuna.

Ms Clifton said she discovered the tree had been felled when she went walking on the popular track near her home earlier this week.

"It never posed a risk.

"It's never dropped a pine cone or a branch on me in all the years I've been walking here.

"There are other trees that pose more danger than this one did."

She is mostly appalled at the damage done by the tree when it fell down the bank, taking with it about 2m of the side of the bank as it toppled below.

"It has scarred the landscape. There will be erosion in winter when it rains," she said.

The walkway was home to birdlife including tui, blackbirds, wood pigeon and the New Zealand falcon, she said.

"It was just criminal. You should have heard the tui - one tui wouldn't leave the tree.

"This was their habitat.

"The birds were frantic ... it was a waste of a tree."

The council should have consulted the community about the felling, Ms Clifton said.

She knows at least five complaints have been laid with council about it.

"It's so annoying. The council have done it all wrong. That tree wasn't a hazard. It was absolutely unnecessary."

Ms Gamby is also cut up about the felling, especially considering the damage caused by the tree dropping.

"It will damage the ecology. When it rains that bank will just wash away. It will corrode," she said.

Meanwhile, one of the TreeSmart workers, who didn't wish to be named, said the tree was dying and did pose a danger to the public as someone had ringed it and drilled holes in the base of the trunk, placing poison inside it to kill it.

"The birds will find another nest. Now there will be room for more native plantings," he said.

Mr King said council preferred communities to be involved in decision making but if trees posed a danger to the public they had to be felled.

"As far as council is concerned it's about improving safety ... I'd be surprised if we were taking trees out without advising the community board," he said.

Staff would be monitoring the tree which had fallen beside the river bank and it would be removed in the future if it were a risk, Mr King said.