Brian Rudman: Chainsaw-wielding bureaucrats have their way

Why doesn't Auckland City Council just build a fleet of wheelie bin planters, plonk a variety of fashionable trees in them, and have them at the ready for each time the mayor and city planners, come up with a new plan for Queen St?

Either that, or they could borrow from Wellington city library designers, and install a regiment of artificial trees up the main street. But if it's to be artificial, could I recommend that only the bases of these fake trees be permanently planted. That way, every time the politico-fashion wind changes, last year's model can be unscrewed to make way for the latest fad.

As the chainsaws begin revving up at city hall, it was stupid to think officialdom wouldn't eventually take its revenge following the popular Christmas uprising last year against their plans to destroy the existing Queen St treescape.

"We will not be taking healthy trees out of Queen St," cooed Mayor Dick Hubbard on December 22. Anything, it seems, for a quite holy day.

There were also pledges to listen more carefully to public concern. And we believed them. And why not? This was just after the Vulcan Lane and Khartoum Place renovation fiascos, when chief executive David Rankin had admitted it wasn't so much the lack of consultation but the failure to listen to what was said, that needed to be corrected. "We were all reminded of the importance of listening carefully to what people say during consultation and not missing important messages."

Certainly the important message of the Christmas uprising hadn't been lost on the mayor at the time when he rushed to support the campaign against sacrificing healthy trees for the sake of some landscape design.

But now it's amnesia time for Mayor Hubbard, as he lines up with his chainsaw-wielding bureaucrats, preparing to do what they wanted to do all along. Scorch the earth and start afresh.

It's going to be at least 10 years before the carefully aligned replacement liquidambar saplings of the master plan begin to offer a modicum of leafy shade. That's if they survive in the hellish, fume-ridden environment in which they are to be planted.

If Sports Minister Trevor Mallard gifts us a waterfront stadium, the poor trees might not last much past 2011. Can you imagine the lure, 90 vulnerable bendy trunks will have on 60,000 drunken rugby fans.

Given the inhospitable environment of Queen St, the sensible compromise would be to leave the existing healthy trees - some 30 years old - where they are and plant the new trees as planned. This would preserve the existing environment for those of us who could be in a rest home before the new trees are casting decent shade. In addition, having neighbouring big brothers might do wonders for the survival rate of the young saplings.

Once they've done their job, the old originals might be quietly retired. On the other hand, a future generation might be more appreciative of the service they have provided and leave them in peace, even at the risk of permanently destroying the stark symmetry of the master plan.

That's if the 2006 masterplan is still operative.

Talking boozed rugby fans hooning about in Queen St, word is, North Harbour and All Black legend Buck Shelford has joined the push to add North Harbour Stadium to Sports Minister Trevor Mallard's list of possible sites for his new national 60,000-seater stadium.

That makes six public contenders so far - Eden Park included. But knowing the Government's preference for a downtown waterfront site, could I throw in a brainwave offered by reader Bernard Fouke.

He proposes "the stadium and a massive parking structure" be built over the rail yards along Quay St at Mechanics Bay. It uses publicly owned airspace, and if not big enough, could stretch over Quay St as well.

Similar developments have taken place in Seattle - Freeway Park and the Convention Centre - and over the metro subway train yards in New York City, he says.

The advantages include a train station under the stadium and minimal impact on the downtown waterfront.

Assuming Santa Trevor can come up with the money, I still favour the expansion of Mt Smart. But if it's a case of "no waterfront site, no money," then the rail yards option seems the most interesting waterfront option so far.