Avondale tree protesters surrender, 117-unit Ockham development to go ahead
Thursday, 11 February 2021
The protesters who have been standing against the removal of a 150-year-old macrocarpa for a housing development for weeks have surrendered.
The group has been at the site of the Ockham-Marutūāhu development, in Auckland's Avondale, since late 2020, when Auckland Council approved a proposal to remove the tree for the 117-unit Aroha development.
Climate activist and former Green Party candidate Steve Abel said the protesters were not prepared to halt the development because “it would have come at a significant cost to the major investor, which is an iwi collective”.
Keeping the tree would have also had a significant effect on the 78 people who had already bought their homes, he said.
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Abel was one of about 50 people who turned up to a community protest and dawn ceremony on Thursday morning, which began with a 5:45am karakia.
The ceremony had been designed to give protesters the opportunity to say farewell to the tree and acknowledge and recognise its importance within the community.
Police were also in attendance and at one point arrested a man for trespassing.
Inspector Grant Tetzlaff said there were a few trespassers who chose to leave willingly, apart from one, who “refused to leave and was subsequently arrested”.
A 17-year-old boy remains in the tree.
Most others, however, have “accepted the process” and thus the ceremony was “very peaceful”, Abel said.
Protesters hope the furore around the macrocarpa will set a precedent for how trees are regarded in the future.
“It’s so important to say that we need to make sure this doesn’t happen again or any more,” Abel said.
“We need to change the system of tree protection so that this is the last time we see a notable tree put down without public say or public input.”
“We need both houses and trees, it mustn't be an either-or situation.”
Mark Todd, co-founder of Ockham residential, said he is in agreement with the protesters and is looking at how they can work together.
The parties have reached an agreement to progress the urgent scheduling of 13 notable trees awaiting formal protection in the Whau area, he said.
“The protest has been successful because there has been a discussion about how the rules around tree protection need to change,” he said.
It was a carefully considered decision to go ahead with the felling, Todd said, which never usually happens “no matter how big or old the tree is”.
He said “the crane is on site and ready to go” and the developers are waiting for the final protester to be taken down before they can get things moving.
Construction on the development, which includes 47 units, will begin this month.