The Central Otago District Council has discovered possible wilful damage to trees in two separate locations in Cromwell.
During recent tree maintenance work, the Council’s arborist found that two London Plane trees growing in Cromwell had what appeared to be drill holes at their base, indicating poisoning.
One of the trees had died and been recently removed by the Council. The other tree would be monitored in the hopes it would survive and not have to be removed, but was clearly in a poor state, CODC Parks and Recreation Manager Gordon Bailey said.
In another area of Cromwell, the Council had also discovered that two mature cherry trees had been chopped down on the verge.
The Council viewed the incidents as wilful damage to public property.
“We are aware that trees are often seen as an issue for some people, however, the role trees play in providing shade, home for wildlife and mitigating the effects on the climate generally outweigh any negative effects from leaves or roots.”
There were significant costs to removing these trees, and their stumps, which would restrict what Council could spend on maintaining other trees, he said.
