‘Dangerous’ cherry trees removed from street
It was a beautiful, tree-lined street – but now there’s only mulch where the trees once stood.
Wallath Rd in New Plymouth lost its resident cherry trees this week after the district council ruled they were dying and a safety hazard and residents wanted them gone.
But Angela Sefton, who walks Wallath Rd every day, was sad to see it without them.
‘‘They provided a great deal of public amenity and beauty to the street,’’ she said.
The trees were pruned right back last year as their branches were getting close to the powerlines.
‘‘They took all the greenery off then and almost all the branches.
‘‘With the remaining stumps after the pruning many of us were hopeful they would regenerate and bloom again, so it was a massive shock to see them chopped down.
‘‘I think it sort of feels like there’s nothing left now except a couple of tiddly little trees.’’
But not everyone was sad to see the axe fall.
Wallath Rd resident Wendy Betteridge said Tuesday’s removal had made it easier for her to back out of her driveway.
‘‘I’m actually kind of cool with it.
‘‘We’ve still got the ones on this side of the road.’’
New Plymouth district external relations manager Jacqueline Baker said in a statement that falling branches from the trees were a hazard to the public.
‘‘We had a number of requests from local residents asking for the dead trees to be removed. We responded to this feedback and acted in the interests of public safety,’’ she said. ‘‘We don’t take the removal of trees on any street lightly but in this case the trees were dying.’’
The council manages more than 3000 street trees and many more in its 1500 hectares of parks and reserves. Fresh planting will take place in the 2019 planting season.
‘‘We’re planning to fill the gaps on the opposite side of the road with cherry trees matching those removed,’’ Baker’s statement added. ‘‘We will not replace the trees in their previous location as they were underneath overhead wires and in a narrow area.’’