Honour the Maunga slams $1.1 million budget to cut down 345 trees on Ōwairaka/Mt Albert

Tuesday, 25 February 2020

A protest group says a $1.1 million budget to cut down exotic trees on Ōwairaka/Mt Albert is a waste of ratepayers' money.

Honour the Maunga criticised the Tupuna Maunga Authority's (TMA) projected spend for the controversial project, which works out at more than $3000 per tree.  

The TMA said the estimated cost of the work took into account the required use of helicopters.

Honour the Maunga has been occupying Auckland's Ōwairaka/Mt Albert since November over plans to cut down 345 non-native trees on the mountain. The Tūpuna Maunga Authority (TMA), which co-governs Ōwairaka/Mt Albert with Auckland Council, plans to replace them with about 13,000 native trees and plants.

**READ MORE:

* Mt Albert tree protest: Occupation hits one month mark as fellers face judicial review 

* Mt Albert: Protest group and iwi set to stage three-day hui over tree felling plan** 

* Mt Albert tree removal: Protesters labelled 'woke, entitled Pākehā' at hui

'We question the integrity of using ratepayers' money in this way, especially when it has become clear that the majority of people want the trees to stay,' Honour The Maunga spokeswoman Anna Radford said.

The Auckland Council this month voted to adopt the Draft Tūpuna Maunga Operational Plan 2020/2021, subject to public consultation, as part of the council's Annual Budget process.

Radford said the group supports Tūpuna Maunga Authority's long-term vision to replace the existing trees and plants with native vegetation. However, it questioned the environmentally destructive process of removing nearly half of its tree cover during a climate emergency.

'They don't need to do it this way. We've always said the best way to do this for the environment and ratepayers is to do it over a longer period of time. It doesn't need to happen over a five week period as the TMA has proposed, it could be done over decades.'  

But TMA chair Paul Majurey doesn't accept Honour the Maunga's criticism.

'Unsurprisingly, in the pursuit of the protesters' philosophical opposition to the long term native restoration programme for the Tūpuna Maunga, they have been poring over information provided by the Tūpuna Maunga to try and find fault.'

Majurey said while the protesters complained about the cost that would be involved in using helicopters to help remove the trees, he said it is the only option it has.

'In many cases, helicopter removal is the only viable way to remove trees safety without risking damage to archaeological features and native trees, and risking contractor safety,' he said.

Majurey said of the 345 exotic trees identified for removal at Ōwairaka, 183 of them are pest species identified in the Auckland Regional Pest Management Strategy.

But despite the fact there is now a draft budget to cut the trees down, when the removal work actually takes place is still unclear. 

The TMA and the Honour the Maunga are both waiting for the outcome of a judicial review, with a court hearing set down for March 20.