A vandal has chopped down several trees in Tūrangi with a saw. Photo / TDC
A vandal has chopped down several trees in Tūrangi with a saw. Photo / TDC
A $6.5 million street revitalisation in Tūrangi has suffered a blow thanks to some mindless vandalism.
Fifteen trees planted in Hingaia and Harata Sts and Paehoro, Mihipeka and Huriana Groves as part of the project were chopped down with a hand saw on the weekend of June 4.
The revitalisation project aims to revitalise Tūrangi streets by replacing kerbing and channelling damaged trees and was an initiative by the Tūrangi-Tongariro Community Board and Taupō District Council, with $6.5 million in funding awarded as one of the government's shovel ready Covid-19 response projects.
The vandalism is particularly disappointing for those involved as, in response to previous criticism about trees being damaged because they were too small, this time the council planted bigger and more expensive trees.
Tuūrangi-Tongariro Community Board chairman Clint Green says the vandalism is heartbreaking.
"I find it sad really and I feel angry, who thinks they have the right to do that? What drives someone to do it? But mostly I just feel sad.
"The town wants to be better looking, more beautiful, and someone goes around and deliberately vandalises it. The trees are sawn right through so someone had a real vengeance against them and I'm at a loss to figure out what would drive someone to do it.
"My first reaction is, do we really want to plant them again at a cost to the ratepayer? But on the other side of it, the rest of the town does want this revitalisation and it's just one person ruining it.
"It seems to be a completely random act of vandalism."
A vandal has chopped down several trees in Tūrangi with a saw. Photo / TDC
At the time of this story being published, replanting of the trees is set to go ahead and the community board is looking at involving local school children to greater enhance the community's involvement in the project. The vandalism has been reported to the police who are investigating.
Clint says receiving $6.5 million for the project in the first place was a massive win. He encourages anyone who saw anything suspicious during the weekend of the vandalism to come forward.
"The Facebook network will be hot if someone knows anything, but at the moment it's mostly people expressing their sorrow and horror.
"It was a brilliant effort on the part of the council to go ahead and secure this funding and what a difference it has made to the town, it really has. It really is a shame someone has decided to try to ruin it."
Prior to the vandalism, the street revitalisation, being done in five phases, was about halfway complete.
TDC project management office manager Pernille Fletcher says disruptions were caused late last year by Covid-19 and uncooperative weather, but the project has been back in full swing since March.
"When the Government was issuing all this shovel-ready funding, we got $10.5 million towards shared paths and accessible pathways. The bulk of the money went to the Tūrangi street revitalisation, the other two components were an extension of the East Taupō Arterial shared pathway and a short section up to L'Arte Cafe in Mapara.
"We got that funding as well as the $20.6 million for the Taupō Town Centre transformation, so it was quite a big pile of funding that we as a district received. We put in a lot of applications as well, there was a lot of prework and it was great that Tūrangi made the cut."
The goal for Tūrangi was to improve the footpaths, kerbing channels and accessibility in certain streets in Tūrangi. The third of five stages is currently being completed.
"To do that, we had to get rid of a few trees," Pernille says.
"There has been a massive 180 in terms of the community sentiment. There is a lot of nervousness in New Zealand and probably globally about reducing the number of trees.
"They were all non-native and most of them caused problems with leaf fall, root systems growing into surfaces and networks, and basically ripping up the pavement and footpaths.
"Initially there was a feeling in the community that taking trees down, even though we planned to replant, would not be a good thing. However, as they saw the initial phases of the project, when they were losing quite large trees with lots of foliage, turning it into firewood for themselves but also the light it allowed into their houses - it really dramatically changed their minds."
A vandal has chopped down several trees in Tūrangi with a saw. Photo / TDC
There was an investigation into each of the trees involved because the team wanted to save as many as possible.
"There was a big process around community engagement to select the new trees. We didn't want to replace like for like, we wanted to go with something that has less foliage, doesn't grow quite as big and entices native birds.
"There are six different trees, most of them natives. A lot of people asked for the Japanese maple."
The project has also created jobs in the area.
Project manager Peter van Niekerk says, in total, there are 30 streets included.
"We have a really great team in Tūrangi with a lot of locals putting in some hard work to really improve the streetscapes of their town.
"The damage done to footpaths by tree roots can be considerable, making them unsafe and hazards for mobility scooter users, and the damage to gutters means there is water pooling in some streets. So the new kerbing and channelling make a huge difference – both to safety and the appearance of the streets."
