Auckland tree protest: Resident chained to crane to save protected macrocarpa at Ockham development

An Auckland resident has chained himself to a crane to stop it felling a 160-year-old protected tree in the path of a major housing development.

Ockham and Marutūāhu Collective are behind the 117-unit Aroha project, and say the tree at the corner of Ash St and Great North Rd needs to go, otherwise the development will not go ahead.

But the dozens of protesters have assembled say it is one of the few remaining trees of its size and stature in urban parts of the city, and are calling on the developers to incorporate it into their design.

This morning as contractors arrived and looked to be preparing to remove the tree, "concerned Auckland ratepayer" Wayne Dwopsnic chained himself to the crane.

Meanwhile, several over people were occupying the tree itself, sitting high up in the branches.

About two hours later the protesters claimed a "small victory", as the crane was turned off and contractors appeared to be packing up for the day.

Dwopsnic said they were not exactly sure why the work stopped.

"Maybe the developer agreed to negotiate, or maybe it was because they were unable to get a trespass notice. Either way it is a small victory for us."

Zane Wedding, an arborist himself, said the tree was in great health, especially given it had been neglected for so long. Photo / Michael Craig

Dwopsnic said he became involved in the protest after seeing developers fell thousands of mature trees across the city in recent years.

After the former National-led Government removed blanket tree protections from the Resource Management Act, meaning a consent was not needed to remove a tree on private land, there was a major escalation in trees being felled across Auckland.

Arborist and protest group spokesman Zane Wedding said the Avondale macrocarpa was planted in 1860, and was one of only a couple of trees of its size and stature remaining in urbanised parts of the city.

Local residents demonstrate at the macrocarpa tree scheduled for felling by the developer Ockham on Ash St, Avondale. Photo / Michael Craig

The tree in question is one of just several thousand listed as a "Notable Tree" in the Auckland Unitary Plan, a process developed and advocated for by communities to "protect notable trees and notable groups of trees from danger or destruction resulting from development".

The schedule says such trees are considered to be among "the most significant trees in
Auckland".

"So not only is it scheduled and very important to Avondale, but it is symptomatic of a larger issue happening right across the city," Wedding said.

"This is the last of two macrocarpa I know of, of this size and stature, in urban spaces.

"There may be some in parks or golf courses or farms, but not in such a central, urban space.

"This tree is older than anyone alive, and there will never be a tree this size and stature in this area if we remove it."

Wayne Dwopsnic chained himself to a crane to stop the 160-year-old macrocarpa in Avondale from being felled. Photo / Supplied

None of the protesters were against the development, and all agreed with the need for quality, affordable housing, Wedding said.

But as a professional arborist and tutor there was no reason why the development could not be built while retaining the tree, he said.

"It just takes a little intelligent design. In 40 years this tree will be 200 years, why doesn't Ockham work with it, make it a feature of the development?

"How many sites could offer that kind of heritage? As a city we need to think about how our new developments can be done without compromising our green spaces."

Protesters have called Auckland Council hypocritical for criticising removal of trees on private land, then in this case consenting a protected tree to be removed on public land. Photo / Michael Craig

Ockham owner and managing director Mark Todd said despite work being halted today they would be continuing the development and would remove the tree "safely in accordance with the resource consent".

Any design that kept the tree would reduce the apartment yield, making it not commercially viable nor meet its affordability objectives, he said.

Three other notable trees on site were being kept, he said.

The design was also consistent with objectives of the city's Auckland Plan 2050, which rezoned the area from residential to mixed use, allowing buildings up to 21m high, Todd said.

Local residents have been operating a roster, spending nights in the tree to protect it from the developer's sword. Photo / Michael Craig

"We have to weigh the price of growth, and we can't have it all ways.

"In Ockham's view, every hectare of destructive urban sprawl is a greater tragedy than the loss of one declining macrocarpa.

"This development of 117 apartments represents the equivalent of four to five hectares of urban sprawl and innumerable kilograms of carbon emissions that will be saved over the life of the project."

The company was granted a resource consent, which went through a non-notified process, in November.

Despite two senior Auckland Council arborists opposing the tree removal, stating the tree was in good health and only required regular maintenance, the independent commissioner decided the street was already "well-treed" and losing the tree would not have "significant visual amenity, landscape or local character effects".

Ockham also agreed to plant 10 mature trees in the Avondale area, in addition to 11 as per resource consent conditions, to offset the loss.

The consent still needed Auckland Council approval, as the owner of the tree, given the majority of it sat on council land.

Wayne Dwopsnic chained himself to the crane to stop it from felling a locally-protected macrocarpa tree. Photo / Michael Craig

Expert advice provided to the council said the tree was a "significant component of the green corridor and urban ngahere (forest)".

"Currently the Avondale area has been assessed as low canopy cover (10 per cent to 15 per cent) with very few large trees, thus increasing the valuable role of the macrocarpa in the setting."

The macrocarpa also had a historic connection with the European settlers of the area, where planting exotic trees was commonplace for wind reduction and shading.

Despite this, the consent was granted by chief executive Jim Stabback, who had been given delegated authority, last month.

In a statement, he said the decision "has not been taken lightly", and considered "every aspect of the development and the tree's value in making this decision".

Ockham had also threatened legal action against the council if there was any delay to its building plans.

The Tree Council and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei had both written to the council urging it to retain the tree.

Auckland resident Wayne Dwopsnic questioned what the point of providing protections to trees were if they could simply be overridden. Photo / Michael Craig

In a statement the Tree Council said it was "disgusted at the way this public heritage asset on public land has been handled by Auckland Council".

"Clearly the protection offered by scheduling our most important trees in the Unitary Plan is meaningless."

The development site was originally sold by council urban regeneration agency Panuku to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MHUD), and onsold to Ockham (in partnership with Marutūāhu iwi) under the Land for Housing Programme.

The Avondale site is one of Panuku's priority urban regeneration areas.