Auckland activist occupying pūriri in protest nearly hit by falling tree

Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Protester Steve Abel was nearly crushed by a falling tree as he occupied a nearby tree in protest of a development. (Video first published on July 21, 2020.)

A veteran activist was nearly hit by a falling tree while protesting its felling by developers.

Steve Abel was up a pūriri on a private property on Canal Rd in Avondale, West Auckland, on Tuesday when a rewarewa tree fell towards him.

Video of the incident shows the environmental activist turned Green Party candidate clinging onto the pūriri and two police officers, who were on the ground nearby, scrambling for cover.

Activist Steve Able scaled a tree in protest of native trees being felled at a private property on Canal Rd, Avondale.

A witness said he thought Abel was going to be crushed.

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Protesters William Lee, Nick Niamh and Steve Abel were up on the tree protesting its felling.

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“Someone could have got hurt,” he said.

The arborist did not comment and referred all questions to police.

Canal Rd resident Lissa Knight holds up a sign her eight-year-old daughter made to protest the felling of native trees.

A police spokesman said none of their officers were injured in the incident. They will continue to monitor the ongoing protest.

Abel and four others have been arrested and charged with trespassing and are expected to appear at the Auckland District Court on a later date.

“Police are maintaining a small presence at the site to ensure the safety of all.”

People have been gathering at the site every day since developers moved in on July 10, protesting the felling of more than 40 native trees.

At the same time as Abel was up the tree on Tuesday, the Tree Council’s Dr Mels Barton was making a presentation to Auckland Council’s environment committee.

Barton said the council had information that a sale had fallen through, which gave council an opportunity to swap the land with another.

“We hope we got through to [councillors], we’re asking them to look at the long list of sites they have and consider swapping it for the Canal Rd site so these beautiful trees can be saved,” Barton said.

“They need to go back and do some clear action now, talk to the family that owns it and if they genuinely interested in saving these trees, find a resolution because the longer they wait, the more trees are cut down.”

Mayor Phil Goff said his team was working hard to reverse amendments made to the Resource Management Act in 2012 that allowed for trees to be cut down on private properties without consent.

“There are groups of trees like this all over our city that have no protection. We need to reverse the amendments [made] in 2012 and the best way to protect these trees is to get change in the legislation to get group protection.”

Councillor Linda Cooper questioned whether urgent action could be taken to save the trees, such as an injunction to stop developers.

The committee said it would explore this legally first and told protesters it did not want to offer any false hope that it could be possible.