Council notifies kauri removal but says nothing's changed

The Arkles Bay, Whangaparaoa house has a 30m kauri growing through the deck.

Auckland Council is inviting public submissions on an application to remove a 30m kauri tree at a secluded Whangaparaoa Peninsula house but denies it was influenced by last month's public outcry over secret consent to cut down a kauri in Titirangi, West Auckland.

In the Titirangi case, an independent commissioner decided there was no reason to notify a developer's application to remove bush, including the 40m giant kauri, to build a house. Consent was granted.

However, when contractors arrived to clear bush at the Paturoa Rd site, a national protest, including a petition with 26,000 signatures, resulted in the owners calling a halt to their plans and the council undertaking to review its consent processes.

This week, the council publicly notified an application to cut down the kauri at a house on Fairhaven Walk, in Arkles Bay, on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, with submissions closing May 12.

Homeowner Steven Longden did not want public notification and refused to talk to the Herald.

But in a letter to the council in May 2013, he said the tree's 160cm girth pierced the middle of his home's second-storey deck and that the house was built around the tree.

The branches and debris falling on to the deck and seating area, the roof and gutters were hazardous to people and the house, which was built in 1992.

The council said public notification of the Fairhaven Walk bid was not a signal it had changed its approach because of the Titirangi protest.

Council acting general manager for resource consents, Julie Bevan, said the approach was consistent and the applications were entirely different.

The Fairhaven Walk application was to remove one kauri tree and notification was recommended by the processing planner in September 2013, before the Titirangi matter.

The Tree Council's Sean Freeman said it was good the council was engaging the community as the effects of tree removal extended beyond one property.