Tree battle goes to court

BY STEPHEN FORBES

He’s ready for a fight and it looks like Titirangi resident Lindsay Green is going to get one.

Mr Green is facing prosecution by the Waitakere City Council for cutting down native vegetation on his property.

Inspectors visiting the site earlier this year found one native tree had been felled and at least four others were heavily pruned.

The council now plans to prosecute Mr Green under the Resource Management Act saying he has breached the district plan.

But Mr Green, who has lived in the area for 36 years, is unrepentant and says he’s dumbfounded by likelihood of court action.

"You’d think I’d shot the Pope," he says.

"They came out here three times. At one stage we had two police officers, an arborist, three surveyors and two people from council and me looking at a dead tea tree. They are like the Gestapo.

"I totally support the idea of preserving the area’s flora and fauna," he says.

"But this is stupid."

Mr Green says he will fight the council and has already contacted Local Government Minister Rodney Hide with his concerns.

Council legal services team leader Setareh Masoud says Mr Green has been served with notice and his case will be heard on September 28.

She says the local authority normally allows people to prune trees but claims Mr Green’s handiwork was too severe.

The case coincides with changes to the Resource Management Act passed by the government last week.

The amendments come into effect on October 1 and mean landowners will now be able to cut down any trees that are not in a reserve or listed in a district plan.

They will also be able to prune trees on their property without getting consent.

The law change is of no use to Mr Green as the pruning took place before the amendment was approved.

"He would still be served with an infringement notice for the tree he cut down anyway because it is within a protected area," she says.

- © Fairfax NZ News