A much loved pohutukawa tree on the corner of Main Road and Norrie Avenue was ‘trimmed’ during the week. At first Waikato District Council denied any knowledge of ‘trimming’ the tree and it was thought that it had been ‘trimmed’ by a vandal. After CCTV footage was viewed, the WDC ‘fessed up. See below for their Roading Team’s version of what happened.
The tree is one of those quirky things that make this town Raglan. The tree’s branches hang over the footpath and you used to have to dodge them when you walked on the footpath.
It seems that Waikato District Council’s roading contractor, the Waikato District Alliance, decided that the tree was a suddenly a hazard so they lopped some branches off. The work was not done to a professional standard so Council then hired a local arborist to remedy the work as best he could. Hopefully the tree will survive. I hope that WDC’s comment, “Council will continue to assess the tree in the coming months” doesn’t mean that in a few months they declare the tree is dying so they remove it. The branch above the footpath has now been dabbed with white paint.
Waikato District Council’s Roading Team Leader Ross Bayer said:
A pohutakawa on the corner of Bow St and Norrie Ave in Raglan was trimmed last week by Waikato District Council’s Waikato District Alliance.
In normal circumstances, any tree maintenance is carried out on the direction of Council’s Community Connections team and therefore, it was initially presumed that this work was not done by Council. Staff investigated and viewed footage which showed that the work was carried out by Council’s roading team. This sort of work is always carried out by a trained arborist.
A roading crew were given a service request on Friday afternoon after a member of the public made an urgent request to have the tree looked at after they hit their head on a low-lying branch. While staff crew were on site a decision was made to trim the branch to remove the hazard.
Council realises the tree is much-loved by the community and due process was not followed in this instance and for this, we sincerely apologise. An arborist has since visited the tree and tidied up the site. Remedial work has been completed and Council will continue to assess the tree in the coming months.