Mt Aspiring Road traffic was diverted most of last week to allow council contractors to fell registered heritage trees which had been damaged by the construction of homes consented by council.

The road was closed last Monday (October 3), between Sargood Drive roundabout and the Meadowstone Drive bridge, and reopened Friday (October 7) afternoon after the felled trees were removed.

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) community services general manager Ken Bailey said it was “regrettable” the five trees, two silver birch and three European ash, were cut down.

“The trees’ roots were damaged during construction work on the property in such a way that the trees then posed a risk to public safety,” he said.

Contractors work to remove the heritage tree adjacent to new housing construction.

The council has a policy concerning any work conducted around council trees which specifically prohibits damaging QLDC trees. It states an arborist must oversee all works around QLDC trees and their advice “must be followed to avoid damaging trees and their roots”.  

It is not clear if this policy was followed when the recent construction of a newly consented home began or if the damage had been done when a previous home on the site was built and demolished.

What is clear is there is now a large gap in Mt Aspiring Road’s archway of heritage trees, many of which (including the five felled last week) are sequentially numbered and registered and are considered trees of historic significance.

Ken said there are about 40 protected trees along Mt Aspiring Road but the trees felled this week, which were planted 100-120 years ago, were not “formally protected” under the District Plan. 

“It’s not clear whether they were part of the original Wānaka Station but they would have been planted at a similar time,” he said.

Mt Aspiring Road resident Karen Fould’s home is adjacent to five of the numbered trees. She said these are not the first registered trees to be removed along Mt Aspiring Road as new housing goes in.

The trees were sequentially numbered and registered. 

By their nature, the mature trees are messy, shade homes and require maintenance, she said, but they’re also part of Wānaka’s heritage and deserve to be protected.

“I’m concerned that now the precedent has been set, everyone who wants to build is going to take out those trees,” Karen said. 

“It’s important that we keep that [archway].”

A large gap now appears where the archway of trees once stood.

In line with QLDC policy, ten trees of the same species will be planted to replace the five removed last week and council was “actively looking at how we can protect these other trees that add so much character to this location,” Ken said.

PHOTOS: Wānaka App