Trees poisoned at North Shore’s Mānuka Primary School: Principal blames locals for attack

• Primary school pupils on Auckland’s North Shore will lose trees after they were poisoned.
• Mānuka Primary School principal Deborah Barclay said the Glenfield school may have to pay thousands of dollars for the tree removal.
• Police say they need more information to be able to follow up on the reports.

Primary school pupils on Auckland’s North Shore will lose the trees they love playing in after a malicious poisoning attack.

And Glenfield’s Mānuka Primary School principal Deborah Barclay said police and Auckland Council did not ”want anything to do with it”.

Barclay told the Herald: “We now have to pay out thousands of dollars for an arborist to cut them down, with zero consequences for the perpetrators.”

Barclay said the school was upset at the targeting of two pōhutakawa and six mānuka trees.

Principal Deborah Barclay says the school is really upset at the targeting of the two pōhutakawa and six mānuka trees. Photo / Deborah Barclay

She said her pupils liked to play in the trees during lunchtimes.

There were “obvious” drill holes visible in the trees’ trunks, Barclay said.

She claimed someone who lived close to the school poisoned them but said she did not have any evidence of this. “We do not know for 100% sure who it is”.

There are "obvious" drill holes visible in the trees’ trunks, she said. Photo / Deborah Barclay

“But we have our suspicions. They have never approached us to discuss their concerns about the trees.”

Auckland Council’s head of resource consents James Hassall told the Herald the council could not help in the matter aside from providing advice, as the trees were not on council property and were not protected under the Unitary Plan.

"We have our suspicions. They have never approached us to discuss their concerns about the trees," Deborah Barclay says. Photo / Deborah Barclay

“The council planning help desk responded to the inquiry ... the same day, providing advice that the trees were not subject to any general protection,” Hassall said.

“And the poisoning of the trees was a matter for the property owner best directed to the police or to a lawyer,” he said.

“We understand how frustrating this situation must be for the school and the neighbourhood. It is disappointing when people vandalise trees, whether they are on private or public land.”

A police spokesman there was “limited information that can be assessed for further action at this stage”.

The damage was reported to have happened between January and March this year.

“We would, of course, welcome any further information that can be assessed for further action,” the spokesman said.

People can provide further information online or call 105 using the file number 250311/6417.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.

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