Red, White and Brass raising dosh for blue and gold

STAFF REPORTER

An advanced screening of a new, hotly anticipated movie will come to Blenheim next week in a bid to raise money for a high school overseas experience.

The Marlborough District Council is looking for greater flexibility for when notable trees need a haircut.

Council staffers had raised concerns that the process for taking care of the trees was “too restrictive”, and some maintenance work even needed a resource consent, which the staffers said “shouldn’t be necessary”.

The Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan (PMEP) set out what maintenance was allowed on notable trees. About 450 trees across the region were listed as notable, some of which were on private land.

Trees could be listed as “notable” for their botanical rarity, size, scientific interest, age, functional value or how they sat in the landscape.

Under the plan, other than in an emergency, only minor trimming or pruning of notable trees was allowed.

That trimming or pruning was restricted to the “crown clearing” of dead or dying branches, canopy lifting or “balanced removal” of lower branches, and minor clearing of light branches from power lines.

At an environment committee meeting on March 9, council strategic planner Louise Walker sought approval from councillors to consult on whether that policy was achieving its purpose, which was ultimately to “ensure tree health and proactively manage risk to people and property”. Notable trees often needed maintenance work.

A 100-year-old oak tree planted by Prince Edward VIII was removed after a large branch fell overnight, in October 2020. Due to safety concerns, the council did not have time to wait for a resource consent.

A 91-year-old heritage Quercus palustris, or Pin Oak tree was saved from the chop in 2021, despite a petition from residents to have it removed, and in November last year a notable 112-yearold eucalyptus tree with “sudden limb drop” was signed off for removal through the consent process.

Deputy mayor David Croad asked if the council was seeking to “create better flexibility” around notable trees.

“Obviously, the notable tree thing has come up on many occasions,” Croad said.

“Are we trying to get away from the resource consent of $1000 every time we want to trim a tree, and so on and so forth, and how that will mechanically work moving forward?”

Walker said the council’s reserves team found issues with needing resource consent and said often this “really shouldn’t be necessary”.

Walker said a confirmed resource consent would still be needed to entirely cut down a notable tree. A report prepared for the meeting said adding a variation to the PMEP would provide an opportunity to “appropriately canvas the concerns”.

This move was part of a wider proposal to make changes to the notable tree register. This included consultation to add five new trees on the register. Meanwhile, two trees on Percy St needed to be removed from the register because they had been assessed by an arborist as “dead, dying, diseased or declining”. Resource consent had already been granted for this. Meanwhile, several notable trees at Hillersden Farm may have been incorrectly mapped and needed to be amended on the notable tree register. The environment committee approved consultation on the changes. This would include consultation with relevant parties, including landowners, tangata whenua, and ministers of the Crown who may be affected. The PMEP fused together three of the region’s major management plans, setting out what activities are appropriate in Marlborough’s urban, rural and coastal environments.

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Wednesday’s special premiere showing of Red, White and Brass, will help send 72 Marlborough Boys’ and Marlborough Girls’ college students on a once-in-alifetime trip to the United States of America.

Trip spokespeople Jenny Pullin and Matt Clark say both schools are excited to have the opportunity to take students on the overseas learning experience; especially after three years of border closures.

They hope to raise $5000 from the movie screening, with money to go towards an emergency fund in case of unexpected costs while overseas.

“Previous trips have highlighted how much students gain from these experiences.

“It’s not just the educational learning before, during and after the trip, it’s also at a personal level.

“Things like getting a job to pay for the trip, saving for a goal, budgeting for spending money, calculating currency exchange rates. There’s a lot of personal growth for our students as part of this experience.

“The $5000 being fundraised is essentially an emergency fund, covering any unexpected costs that might arise due to bad weather or illness, for example,” they say.

The 20-day trip, during the term three school holidays, will begin in New York City and finish in the southern US city of New Orleans with students visiting the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the UN Headquarters and the birthplace of Martin Luther King, as well as tours of Capitol Hill, the Coca Cola headquarters and the Hurricane Katrina Tour. Red, White and Brass follows Maka, a Tongan superfan, who is willing to do whatever it takes to get tickets to the Tonga vs France Rugby World Cup game – even if it means creating a brass band, from scratch, in a month.

The debut feature film for co-writer and director Damon Fepulea’i, the film is inspired by a true story and filmed in Wellington.

It is funded in-part by Angel Investors Marlborough.

Tickets for the Blenheim premiere on March 22 are available through Marlborough Boys or Marlborough Girls school offices, or email ticketsredwhitebrass@gmail.com

Tickets are $30 for adults, including a glass of wine, and $25 for under 18s, which includes a soft drink. Constellation Wines has generously donated the wine for the event.