Poisoned trees – we’re sick of these!

Our friends in Nelson have recently dealt with a situation of two heritage trees being poisoned, leaving them in a dying state.

We also deal with these problems in our District – and we think it’s worth urging some compassion towards these trees, many of which hold special meaning or significance to the community.

Currently, we have a protected Silver Birch that has “mysteriously” been drilled and poisoned in Wakefield.

The landowner now must have the tree removed due to failing health at their expense. These owners recently purchased the house with the expectation of having a beautiful tree in their front yard, only to move in and watch the tree – for whatever reason – slowly die.

Another notable example was the poisoning of pines in Kingsland Forest last year, costing us a substantial amount to fell and make safe as they were located above a popular track.

Throughout the Tasman District, we have 589 protected trees. Most have a few rings around their timber, and we do our best to keep an eye on them and take action if they are showing their age.

However, our job is made all the more difficult when people take it upon themselves to remedy a perceived issue with a tree – be it protected, pest, or simply too pretty.

There are significant costs to removing protected trees, having our consultant inspect the tree, applying for a resource consent to remove the tree, the arborist to fell and process the tree, as well as traffic management where required.

These costs, depending on the class of protected tree, are either paid by us, shared between us and the landowner, or solely that of the landowner.