Hubbard's u-turn on trees

How the replacements would look.

Auckland City Mayor Dick Hubbard has made a political u-turn by moving to support the removal of healthy trees in Queen St.

In a letter to the Herald last December, Mr Hubbard said: "We will not be taking healthy trees out of Queen St."

Nine months later, Mr Hubbard is heading a council move to cut down 70 of the 77 trees in Queen St between Wellesley St and Customs St, including 27 deemed healthy by arborists.

The 70 threatened trees, some more than 30 years old and up to 15m tall, will be replaced with 95 new trees to create an "avenue" of liquidambars, interplanted with native trees.

New liquidambars, up to 5m tall, will be planted in large tree pits at ground level to give them a healthier and longer life.

Mr Hubbard yesterday said that when he wrote the letter in December he planned to keep healthy trees in Queen St, but after listening carefully to public concerns in January and calling a special council meeting, changes were made to the tree policy allowing for the removal of healthy trees.

The new policy made no special mention of removing healthy trees. It referred to removing trees in poor to average health or trees likely to block pedestrian access or affect canopies.

"There was buy-in to the concept that we could remove trees because some of the healthy trees were inappropriately sited and they were going to end up in the middle of footpaths instead of the edge of footpaths. Some had problems with canopies," said Mr Hubbard.

He said it was also his understanding that trees in planters could not be "classified as healthy trees". This contradicts a council document stating that "27 are healthy" and should be removed "because they are in raised planters or obstruct pedestrian access".

All but three of 25 responses to the Herald on the removal of another 70 trees on Queen St - nine trees have been cut down and 16 planted in the first stage between Mayoral Drive and Wellesley St - opposed the latest plan.

Arts commentator Hamish Keith said no one was asked if it was a good idea to denude the central city of maturing trees on the promise of some sort of leafy boulevard a decade from now.

The council's landscape advice says Queen St will be largely denuded for up to 10 years.

Mr Keith, a Heart of the City board member, said it was wrong of Mr Hubbard to say the inner-city business group approved of the plan: "I remember no such agreement."

If independent commissioners grant a non-notified resource consent to the council, cutting of the trees could start next month and take place over 15 months.