Memorial trees to be cut down for schools

‘‘It’s about a case of not losing sight of the wood for the trees. The big picture here is the revitalisation of the east.’’ Christchurch City councillor Glenn Livingston

Another 10 memorial trees at Christchurch’s Queen Elizabeth II Park will have to go to make way for two new secondary schools.

Some Christchurch City councillors are upset at the prospect of more trees being lost on the site, where Avonside Girls’ High School and Shirley Boys’ High School will be rebuilt.

The council is also building a $39 million recreation and sport centre at QEII.

Cr Yani Johanson said both developments would see dozens of trees felled.

‘‘The irony is that the area without trees has got hardly any development,’’ he said.

Council staff were not able to tell councillors exactly how many trees would be felled to make way for the schools and sport centre, but said the Ministry of Education was planting 340 trees as part of its development.

When the council agreed to sell 11.5 hectares of QEII to the ministry in 2016 for $4.6m, the council registered an encumbrance against the title to protect 11 memorial trees it deemed significant. It also asked the ministry to retain another 14 trees, if it was able to.

However, the ministry said it became apparent during the design process it was not able to retain all of the required trees.

Two of the memorial trees, a tulip tree and an English oak, were in the way of the school’s proposed sports courts and the other one, a liquidambar, was in the middle of a proposed car park. The seven other trees were in the way of a sports field.

The memorial trees were planted at the time of the 1974 Commonwealth Games, held at QEII, and collectively had some heritage value, an arborist report said.

Johanson said he believed the schools’ design could be reworked to avoid the trees having to be felled.

He said he felt strongly about trees in the city and the council’s arborist advice was that those memorial trees should be protected.

‘‘We should not be removing healthy mature significant trees in the city when we’re already losing so much on this site and across the city.’’

Council property consultant Stuart McLeod said in a report the trees were in a poor to fair condition.

He said there was no legal reason for the council to consult with the community again over the trees.

Cr Pauline Cotter said she wanted the council to talk to those people who had indicated they were worried about the loss of trees.

The council voted on Thursday to delete the encumbrance on the three memorial trees, allowing the ministry to fell them, but the issue sparked a lot of debate. Johanson and Cotter voted against the move and Crs Deon Swiggs and Vicki Buck abstained.

Cr Glenn Livingstone said the development on the site was going to be ‘‘terrific’’ for the east. He believed there was no contest when deciding between three trees and the development.

‘‘It’s about a case of not losing sight of the wood for the trees. The big picture here is the revitalisation of the east.’’