Contractors use a crane yesterday to begin the delicate procedure of removing piece by piece a giant Wellingtonia tree growing in the courtyard of a Pact residential care facility for people with intellectual disabilities in the Dunedin suburb of Wakari.
The city council recently granted Pact consent to remove the 100-year-old 38m-high protected tree, because it was messy and branches had damaged the roof.
Asphlund area manager Alan Page said supervisor Nick Houghton and a team of three other arborists expected it would take four or five days to take the tree down, depending on the weather.
The job was a particularly difficult one because of the location of the tree, he said.
The residents of the home had moved out for the week, while the tree came down.
