Hagley Park cyclist almost crushed by tree branch
A Christchurch man who was only moments away from being crushed by a tree branch is calling for an urgent audit of Hagley Park trees.
David Lynch, who is in his 60s, was cycling beside the park towards Moorehouse Ave on a calm Thursday evening when he heard a crack, then a thud of a large tree branch behind him.
Although Lynch was unharmed, he said he rode through the park every day and had grown increasingly worried about large branches breaking off trees.
Almost exactly a year ago, a 70-year-old tourist was crushed by an “absolutely massive” branch while cycling in the central city.
He survived, but was taken to Christchurch Hospital in a serious condition.
Lynch, a public relations figure who was 2019 mayoral candidate Darryll Park’s campaign manager, intends to seek an urgent audit of the trees in Hagley Park from the Christchurch City Council during their next full council meeting.
He said he’d seen an increasing amount of caution tape in the park, marking the territory of fallen branches. It made him question the health of the trees and what council was doing to keep on top of it.
“There have been a number of occasions where [tree] limbs have snapped off and simply been left hanging over pathways,” he said.
The Christchurch City Council has been approached for comment.
The inner city is no stranger to falling trees or branches.
In August 2022, a 30-metre-tall tree crashed onto a busy road, destroying a car and blocking Harper Ave.
Andrew Rutledge, council’s head of parks at the time, said there had been no indication the tree would fall.
He said it and other trees in the area were visually inspected every three months and after storm events.
Lynn McClelland, assistant chief executive and head of strategic policy and performance, told The Press in November that all trees in Christchurch were registered in their asset management database.
The council’s maintenance cycle for trees was seven to eight years, but trees in high occupancy areas like Hagley Park or elsewhere in the inner city were inspected more frequently, she said.
Her comments were in response to an asset management maturity assessment, dated October 2023, which was obtained by The Press and showed an external assessor was concerned the council was only checking on tree health “on an ad-hoc basis”.
McClelland said that was incorrect, and something the council was clarifying with the assessment’s author.
She said the council’s inspections followed internationally accepted best practice.