Mt Albert tree removal: Date for hui announced

Saturday, 23 November 2019

Anna Radford from Honour the Maunga explains why protestors are blocking the removal of trees from Mt Albert/Ōwairaka. (Video first published November 2019.)

Both sides of a debate over the fate of an Auckland mountain's trees have accused the other of obstruction.

The Tūpuna Maunga Authority (TMA), which co-governs Ōwairaka/Mt Albert with Auckland Council, has announced a hui with an 'opportunity for people to speak' for next Thursday, November 28. In its press release, TMA chair Paul Majurey accused the group protesting his plan to fell 345 non-native trees of resisting any discussion.

But Honour the Maunga's Anna Radford, spokeswoman for the protesters, said she believed his accusation was 'an outright lie'.

Protesters set up camp on Ōwairaka/Mt Albert earlier this month to stop the Tūpuna Maunga Authority cutting down 345 exotic trees.

'I've been fighting for three weeks to get an appropriate date and they've given me a total runaround every step of the way,' she said.

* Opinion: For the greater good I'm happy to say goodbye to Mount Albert's trees

* Auckland councillor slams 'culturally ignorant' protest over Mt Albert/Ōwairaka trees**

The first she'd heard about next week's hui was when Stuff contacted her on Friday afternoon, said Radford – which was 'disappointing'.

Radford said the TMA had declined several requests from Honour the Maunga to meet, and that Majurey had been 'obstructive and manipulative' in his communication with her.

Honour the Maunga rejected a provisional invitation to meet from the TMA, both sides acknowledged. The TMA had agreed to delay felling until after that meeting, provided the protesters stopped occupying the mountain and allowed them to set up tree felling equipment.

'As far as I'm concerned, that would be scoring an own goal,' said Radford.

'The occupation will continue until we are assured the trees are safe.'

The felling is part of a broader project to replant Auckland's 14 mountains with solely native vegetation and has been consented by Auckland Council. The 345 exotic trees, making up less than half of the canopy, would be replaced by 13,000 natives.

The TMA has maintained its project is supported by independent ecologists, the Tree Council, and Forest and Bird.

Majurey said the TMA 'holds a long-term view that these taonga are restored and are enhanced as wahi tapu and has native wildlife habitats for generations to come'.

The protesters don't disagree with the TMA's long-term vision, but objected to it happening in one fell swoop. The TMA intended to remove all 345 exotic trees by mid-December.

Locals have strong connections to many of the slated trees – including oaks, cherries, olives and eucalypts – and worry about the impact losing so many at once will have on the mountain's birds, said Radford. Tui, morepork, kaka, fantails and kereru live on the maunga.

Avian experts have slammed the felling's timing. It's set to happen in the middle of nesting season, when birds are at their most vulnerable.

Bird scientist Dr Lyn Miller, the general manager of Green Bay Bird Rescue, implored the TMA to delay any felling until February as the disturbance would 'traumatise' birds and drive them from the mountain for good.

'You've got nesting going on, there are going to be babies all through those trees. You're going to have abandonment. Fledglings will die,' she said.

The protesters also maintained community consultation on what the TMA planned to do on the mountain had been poor. Radford said she was not informed of the felling until a note appeared in her mailbox in late October, and that to date the community had not been given any opportunity to ask questions about the project.

The TMA, however, said there were three rounds of public consultation about the felling in 2016 and that it had 'received multiple tree related public presentations at its monthly hui over the last 12 months'.