Sheryl Cromie has led the charge to have magnolia trees removed from Brentwood Ave, after two broken arms, a twisted ankle and falls among injuries sustained from the trees’ roots by walkers using the quiet cul-de-sac.
Sheryl Cromie has led the charge to have magnolia trees removed from Brentwood Ave, after two broken arms, a twisted ankle and falls among injuries sustained from the trees’ roots by walkers using the quiet cul-de-sac.
Frustrated residents of a Whangārei avenue fear more people will get injured while the Whangārei District Council processes for removing a boulevard of magnolias drags on.
Brentwood Avenue’s Sheryl Cromie said two broken arms, a twisted ankle and falls were among injuries sustained by walkers using the quiet cul-de-sac, before residents took their tree removal call to WDC last year.
“When we met with the council in February last year, we all thought the problem magnolias along our street would have been removed, with new replacement trees in by Christmas, but the magnolias are still there,” Cromie said.
“There have been three more falls since then while the issue lingers. One man hit his head when he fell, one woman was quite dazed and had to sit down and rest.”
The trees’ roots are pushing up the footpath along the street, making it difficult to navigate safely.
She said residents walking along the Kamo street, including from the adjacent Jane Mander retirement village, were among those who had fallen and were particularly at risk.
“Older people take longer to heal,” Cromie said.
Cromie said Brentwood Ave residents had agreed to pay the more than $10,000 it would cost to remove the trees, stump grind their remains and replant the boulevard with alternatives.
The avenue is in WDC’s Kamo walkability environment – a zone which encourages walking.
Brentwood Ave, in Whangārei, with its magnolia trees that are annoying residents and causing injuries.
Cromie said footpaths cracked and lifted by the almost three dozen magnolias planted by the council 27 years ago on council-owned grass verges, were worsening.
WDC has taken the unusual step of agreeing to remove the now up-to-nine-metre tall trees, but the task must first get resource consent.
Councillors at a July 2022 infrastructure committee meeting voted in favour of staff applying for the resource consent and that council would reinstate the footpath after the trees’ removal.
Council parks and recreation manager Sue Hodge said resource consent applications could take time, often requiring inspections, assessments and technical reports to be written to ensure all Resource Management Act (RMA) requirements were met.
The council had an ever-increasing number of resource consent applications to put together for work it did across a wide range of its activities including parks and reserves, roading, stormwater, wastewater, coastal works and freshwater supply.
“This one was included in the work stream and has now been publicly notified,” Hodge said.
The limited public notification to remove 33 magnolias and one rewarewa tree was sent to affected residents, with submissions closing on May 8.
“We’re hoping we can get everything sorted as soon as possible,” Cromie said. Hodge said WDC’s preference was to plant the trees in autumn or winter this year.
“If that window is missed, then next autumn would be the plan,” Hodge said.
The magnolia trees on Brentwood Avenue, in Whangārei, are pushing up the footpaths and leading to injuries to walkers.
The council was not yet able to confirm how long it might be until a resource consent decision was made. That was in large part dependent on how the next steps in the process played out.
It could be quite quick if all submissions were in favour of the trees’ removal. However, it would be slower if there were objections or if those putting in submissions asked to speak about their submissions. This would mean the need for a hearing.
“If there are objections and/or requests to be heard, the matter will need to (go) to a hearing before an independent commissioner,” Hodge said.
Hodge said the number of new trees planted along the street would be appropriate to their type, size and appearance, “given that we all want to avoid the type of problems the magnolias have caused”.
She said removing a street of trees had only been done twice before in Whangārei.
“Removing a full street of trees is unusual and an emotive issue,” Hodge said.
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