KEY POINTS:
Three large trees outside a Remuera kindergarten are in the process of being chopped down, following complaints they were making young children sick.
The London Plane trees outside Constance Colgrove Kindergarten on Wairua Road will be removed by the end of the week, after staff and students complained of asthma, skin infections and hayfever.
Consent for the removal of the trees was granted by the Auckland City Council on December 17 last year.
The Resource Management Act shows that public consultation on tree removal is not necessary if the land where the trees are located is being leased out - in this case to the Auckland Kindergarten Association.
The association's general manager Tanya Harvey - speaking on behalf of the kindergarten - said the trees had been an ongoing issue for the centre.
"It's the pollens and the needles on the trees - when released, it's in the air and kids breathe it in and get eczema, bad coughs and sore eyes," she said.
"And it's not just a couple of kids - there's at least 30 to 40 children affected."
But residents on the street say the trees - said to be almost 100 years old - give nothing but shade and are upset that they are being removed because of "normal" children's illnesses.
Resident Robyn Mcniece says suggestions that the trees caused the children's allergies were over the top.
"None of our children or any of the other children I know who went to that kindy ever had allergies. You can't blame it on trees that have been around here for almost 100 years."
Another resident said the "overkill" decision to remove the trees would bring consequences rather than benefits.
"Those trees blocked the sun from the kindergarten. Come February, those kids will be cooking," he said.
Meanwhile, a pruning crew has started trimming work on pohutakawa trees overhanging Tamaki Drive, between Okahu Bay and Ngapipi Rd.
The work was prompted by a complaint by Auckland tourist operator Mark Gibson that his drivers were having to use the wrong side of the road to get past the pohutakawas when they bent low in wet weather.
Council arts, culture and recreation committee chairman Greg Moyle said he believed the council had been responsive in balancing Mr Gibson's concerns with a need to schedule a major pruning task at a time of year when disruption to traffic along busy Tamaki Drive could be minimised.
