Protection of nikau palms off to court

A scrap over protection for nikau palms in Lower Hutt is heading to the Environment Court.

Hutt City Council was forced to remove its blanket protection for palms after the Government amended the Resource Management Act. That resulted in plan change 36, which produced a list of only 145 notable trees in the city, including a handful of nikau palms.

Central Lower Hutt and Eastbourne are known nationally for nikau palms. The plan change also resulted in a loss of protection for treescapes on hilly areas such as Eastbourne.

The East Harbour Environment Association has since appealed against the plan change to the Environment Court.

Spokesman Geoff Rashbrook said the council had not met its legal responsibility to protect native trees.

‘‘Lower Hutt now has some of the weakest environmental protections in the country, which will lead to the loss of bush and nature around our homes and communities. In 10 years, we might not even recognise this place.’’

But the council rejected any suggestion that the plan change would spell the end of protecting native bush and nikau palms in the city. Andrew Cumming, the council’s environmental divisional manager, said the plan change was not the best way to provide overall protection for trees.

The council recently met the association to discuss other options and would keep the group informed about what it was doing, he said.

Rashbrook was sympathetic to the council’s position and accepted it would not be easy finding a way to protect trees.

‘‘The council had to do something, I understand that, because of the changes to the Resource Management Act. But what they have done, is effectively throw out all the protections.’’

Rashbrook had hoped the council would take a more moderate approach.

Other councils had proactively identified significant trees and clusters of trees to be protected under their district plans, he said.