A row of trees along Ladies Mile near Queenstown has been given a temporary reprieve after a public outcry over plans by Delta to remove them.
The infrastructure company announced last week it would remove the 29 trees, which sit on private land, because they were growing into overhead powerlines supplying 2600 houses in the area.
The trees were scheduled to be felled on Tuesday, but a flurry of calls to Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden has led to the company agreeing to hold off for a week.
An online petition to save the trees had gathered 180 signatures by yesterday evening.
The late Bill Walker tended the oak, cherry, beech, ash, maple, sweet chestnut and horse chestnut trees on his land for more than 25 years before he was killed in a glider crash in Namibia in 2014.
This week, his daughter, Sonya Walker, called on Delta to reverse its decision, despite the family having signed a "no interest'' declaration on the trees - effectively giving permission for them to be removed.
Ms van Uden and council staff will meet Delta representatives on Wednesday, while Arrowtown resident Maggie Hillock has organised a public meeting for Thursday.
Mrs Hillock said many people had told her they would chain themselves to the trees to prevent their removal.
"From the reaction we've had, not enough public consultation has happened.''
Central Otago wine pioneer Alan Brady told the ODT he had been fielding calls all day from from people as "outraged'' as he was.
One solution was crowdfunding to cover the cost of maintaining the trees, but many people had told him they were an important landscape asset and should be the responsibility of the council, Delta or both.
He understood that power company Aurora Energy or its predecessor had moved the lines from the roadside on to the Walker property.
"The trees were already there, so if Aurora didn't make sufficient allowance for their growth, they should deal with the outcome.''
The ideal outcome was for the lines to be buried, even if it meant a "few dollars extra on power bills''.
Delta's asset management general manager Derek Todd said it was the tree owners' responsibility to keep them clear of lines.
"We hate having to remove healthy, attractive trees and only do so as a last resort to ensure public safety and reduce the risk of unexpected power outages.''
If the community wanted to keep them, an "accountable body'' would have to take responsibility for keeping them trimmed.
"It wouldn't be fair to expect electricity consumers to pay for the ongoing cost of trimming trees on other people's properties.''
He estimated the annual cost at more than $20,000.
● A public meeting will be held on Thursday at 6pm at the Lake Hayes walking track car park by the entrance to the Threepwood subdivision.
