The narrow-leafed ash tree beside the VTNZ branch at the intersection of Hanover and Castle Sts is listed as significant under the Dunedin City Council’s second-generation district plan.
It is on a site owned by the Ministry of Health, which would need a resource consent to remove it.
A ministry spokeswoman said an arborist would provide advice on what could be done for public safety.
The ministry bought the site in August. It is near Dunedin’s planned new hospital, but this would not place the tree in immediate jeopardy.
The tree could be removed if an arborist certified thatit was in terminal decline, the ministry spokeswoman said.
"However, if the health of the tree can be improved, there are no other immediate reasons to remove it, as it is not on land required for the hospital development," she said.
