Campaign fails as rimu felled for expansion

The cutting down of three prominent rimu trees at the gateway to Te Awamutu has angered residents who claim it was a direct reaction to their concerns they would be chopped.

Three stumps are all that is left of the 50-year-old trees after they were removed in the early hours of the morning on February 26 – a day after the Waikato Times published a story about residents wanting to keep a piece of the Waikato town's history by saving the trees.

The trees were removed as part of the expansion of hardware retailer Bunnings' store on the corner of Arawata St and Scout Lane.

The company said it had complied with all council requirements and would landscape the area according to its resource consent.

John Smyth, who lives just out of Te Awamutu, said the trees were planted by his father in 1960 when he ran a timber yard on the site and he was disappointed they had been chopped down.

"I was going in there to see the manager to tell him the history and see if he would like to keep them, but when I went there they were gone so I walked out again," Mr Smyth said.

Bunnings property and development manager Dan Kneebone said the trees were removed to allow both the construction of stage two of the $6 million redevelopment and to meet operational requirements.

The Australian hardware giant has completed the second stage of its redevelopment plans and removed the trees despite them being earmarked in stage three of the plan when the carparks would be constructed and the area landscaped.

Waipa District Council, however, does not require Bunnings to carry out work consecutively for each stage.

Mr Kneebone said stage two and three were being worked on simultaneously and he had only received one complaint so far.

Bunnings' new landscaping plan included a number of ornamental trees.

"Bunnings initially proposed a number of native trees for inclusion in the town landscaping plan, however these were rejected by council," Mr Kneebone said.

Councillor Laurie Hoverd, who initially raised concern about the removal of the trees, said he had been contacted by more than a dozen people commiserating with him about the trees after they were felled.

"People are sad to see them go and now we have to look at where similar trees are and get these trees notified and protected if they are important enough to the community."

- © Fairfax NZ News