Outrage after redwood trees felled
Council investigates after 30-year-old redwoods cut down
An investigation has been launched after a series of 30-year-old redwood trees were cut down on council land without permission near Hastings.
A neighbour who planted the six trees three decades ago in Pakipaki says the “bastard” responsible needs to be held accountable.
Thousands of dollars worth of redwood cedar has also been taken from the site.
The incident happened last Wednesday and the Hastings District Council says it is investigating “to see what actions can be taken”.
The council says it previously received a request from a customer about cutting down one tree but not six of them.
All that remains now is six stumps and an ugly heap of branches and offcuts.
Neighbour Steve Lobb said he planted the treeswhenhemovedinto the adjacent property 32 years ago for “beautification of the area” and also for people to enjoy in the future.
The trees were about 30 metres tall prior to being cut down and stood along a grass, paper road off Stock Rd.
That grassy road is owned by the council but the trees themselves are classified as Crown property. Lobb said locals used the area for walking and riding horses.
He said upon getting home last Wednesday afternoon, he popped his head over the back fence to see why a chainsaw was operating.
“I saw all the redwood trees dropped down,” Lobb said. “I went down there and said ‘what the hell is going on’.
“This guy says ‘I am a contractor for the council and I’ve been sent out by the council to chop these trees down because they are on a paper road’.”
He was being helped by a younger man at the time and they were using a yellow tractor, Lobb said.
Lobb reported the incident to the council but by the time they figured out what was happening the two people involved had gone.
The council has since confirmed it did not give permission to cut the six trees down.
“When some bastard comes along like this . . . this guy has to be held accountable,” Lobb said.
“Imagine if he had walked up to the redwood trees on Te Mata Peak and started whacking them out?”
He said he estimated the timber taken from the site was worth about $6000 or $7000.
“It is not firewood. He is making timber out of this . . . it is redwood cedar.”
Lobb had never seen the pair involved before and did not believe they lived close by.
A Hastings District Council spokeswoman said someone called the council prior to the incident, requesting to remove a single tree.
“Council received a call about two weeks ago from a customer asking if they could chop down one tree on this paper road,” the spokeswoman said. “A council officer checked that the tree was not protected under the District Plan.”
She said from that conversation, the council officer assumed the customer lived adjacent to the grass road.
“It was reported to council on Friday morning [September 2] that six Redwood trees had been removed, not one, and council was advised that the person was not the adjacent landowner. This is yet to be verified,” she said.
“Council will be following through with further investigations.”