A Bannockburn tree-breeder believes the Queenstown Lakes District Council is in danger of going too far over prohibiting exotic trees.
John McLaren breeds rowan trees and is dismayed the council is considering a prohibition on planting them.
Mr McLaren, who was responsible for developing the well-known Clutha gold apricot and other apple varieties, has dozens of rowans he imported from England 25 years and breeds new varieties from.
Mr McLaren told the Otago Daily Times rowan trees, along with larches and sycamores - both also likely to be added to the banned list - were responsible for the blaze of colour on the hillside above Arrowtown that helped attract tourists in the autumn.
"If they took all those trees out, they've got rocks, broom and rubbish.
"You'd never get a tussock to grow in that country.''
He believed there were better ways of managing the spread of the colourful exotics rather than declaring a blanket ban on planting them.
Mr McLaren said some rowan varieties, with berries that were unpalatable to birds, were less likely to spread than others.
And rowans grown in some landscapes were unlikely to become a problem.
He supported the control of rapidly spreading trees such as Pinus contorta and Douglas fir and had nothing against native trees.
But he believed the spread of rowans and exotic trees that benefited the region through their autumn colours could be managed in a different way.
He suggested "guarding the perimeters'' of exotic tree forests, as was being done successfully with Douglas fir around Queenstown.
The issue arose at a hearing of the council's proposed district plan at Lake Hawea last week, when council planner Craig Barr recommended a list of additions to the list of trees that should be banned.
Mr Barr explained some of the suggestions came from public submissions to the plan.
Mr McLaren urged the commissioners considering the new district plan to consult tree specialists before adopting the recommendations.
He also questioned the threat posed by pine species such as Scots, dwarf mountain, maritime and ponderosa, which he did not believe were likely to spread easily.
And Mr McLaren said it should be recognised bees benefited substantially from early-flowering crack willow that had spread along many river banks.
The species being considered for the banned "wilding exotic tree'' list are: contorta or lodgepole pine, Scots pine, Douglas fir, European larch, Corsican pine, bishops pine, ponderosa pine, dwarf mountain pine, maritime pine, mountain pine, sycamore, hawthorn, boxthorn, buddleia, grey willow, crack willow, cotoneaster, rowan and Spanish heath.
Radiata pine could be granted resource consent, with conditions.
