Radio silence from council over tree
Branch blocks ambulance access
Octogenarian Colin Harvey has almost given up on the New Plymouth District Council ever doing something about a huge pōhutukawa branch blocking his driveway.
For almost four years, Harvey has been pleading with the council to do something about the branch, which blocked an ambulance getting onto his property when his wife needed urgent medical attention.
“The first time it happened, the ambulance driver came down and told me there was no way he could get down the driveway because he’d plough straight into the branch,” the 83-year-old said.
“So I started going to the council, it’s not fair on the emergency people.”
Time and again Harvey had stood at the council reception, given his details, told staff what the problem was and time and again he had been told someone would get in touch with him.
No-one ever has.
“The lady at the counter told me, the first time, that I’d be seen in a week or two weeks’ time. Well, that’s never happened.
“They might very well come and say they can’t do anything about it for whatever reason but I’ve just had nothing from them.”
A council spokesperson confirmed it had service requests from Harvey in 2020, 2021 and 2022, while there were also two phone calls from him logged in its system.
However, the spokesperson could not give an explanation as to why no-one had been in contact with Harvey and was investigating the reason for that.
The pōhutukawa tree was already well established when Harvey and his wife moved into the South Rd property more than four decades ago.
Standing on the council berm next to State Highway 45, the tree was especially popular near Christmas time when it flowered.
“We get people coming onto our property and photographing it quite often,” he said.
“I don’t have a problem with the tree, it’s been a good old tree over the years, it’s just the branch that’s the real problem because it’s so big and I can’t do anything about it.”
Despite being fit, active, and resourceful, Harvey said he had not been tempted to try to take down the branch, or the others that had encroached deep onto his property, himself.
This week, the council lost its fight to keep a pōhutukawa tree next to the West End Bowling Club after a hearings commission, made up of three district councillors, voted that it had be removed to stop damaging the adjoining clubrooms.
The decision came almost two decades after the bowling club first asked for it to be removed and was the second time the fight had gone to a hearings commission.
In a report to the hearings commission, council staff warned that removing the tree could set a precedent under the district’s tree policy.
Harvey just wants the situation resolved or someone from the council to actually talk to him.
“Every time I have to call an ambulance, I warn them about the tree,” he said.
“That’s not going to happen if I’m the one conked out on the floor, is it?”