Residents want fallen pohutukawa with

Myrtle Rust Removed

A large fallen pohutukawa tree at The Sands apartments in Takapuna has myrtle rust, say residents fighting to have it removed from their lawn and garden. The body corporate is pursuing a resource consent to allow the removal.

Resident and former body corporate chair Graeme Marwick says Auckland Council arborists have stalled efforts to have it cleared. “It’s just crazy, a ridiculous situation,” he said.

The pohutukawa, although on private land, is classified by the council as a notable tree and is considered part of the Sacred Grove / Te Uru Tapu stand of specimens which are mostly on council reserve land at the northern end of Takapuna Beach.

Marwick said it fell in August. Since then, a report commissioned by residents confirmed the presence of the fungal disease, which threatens native trees. “It does have myrtle rust in it and the arborist is still stonewalling. Given it’s an airborne disease, you would think they would want it removed,” Marwick said.

He believed that arborists were hanging onto the idea it might regenerate.

At least one tree in the main part of the grove was showing signs of leaf damage, he said.

Apartment owners had put it to council staff – in tongue-in-cheek fashion – that perhaps the council should pay to rent the private land the tree was occupying. The response was that the tree was not the council’s – yet residents were not able to do anything with it.

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member George Wood has put in a request to the council to take all necessary steps to deal with the tree and the threat of contagion it poses.

“I think it’s a nonsense that the council, when there’s myrtle rust known to be in the tree, is making people apply for a consent,” he said.

“It’s a very frustrating process,” agreed current body corporate chair Tashca Rosan.

A report from arborists had been delayed before Christmas and then again since. She said in an inspection early this year, after rainfall, some green shoots had been spotted, but these had now withered. “The tree wasn’t preserved and now it is on our lawn.”

Rosan said she believed the grove’s trees deserved to be preserved, but they needed to be properly managed. “We might be doing them a bit of a favour by giving them a haircut.”

Auckland Council said Sacred Grove trees were inspected on March 1. Several had low levels of myrtle rust, one had a medium level and six had no sign of the disease.

Regarding the tree which had fallen at the Sands Apartments, this was privately zoned and “therefore council has no influence over its removal.” A resource consent would be needed to take it out, but none had been lodged so far, council said.

Famous portrait kneaded into new style

A Takapuna librarian has used 4500 breadbag tags to recreate the famous Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer. Jiehua Ma came up with the idea several years ago while working at another library. When she realised how many tags went to landfill she decided to ask for donations of them to repurpose for children’s activities.

One man brought in a pile amassed over 15 years that he was wondeirng what to do with.

Ma decided to make her own large-scale piece, based on the painting she admires. The installation will be at the library for several weeks..

The piece was put together in A4-sized sections, with Ma completing 64 of these.

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