A committee of Dunedin city councillors will have the last word on the fate of two historic trees on the former Montecillo site in Mornington, after several neighbours and council staff opposed it being chopped down.
The developer of the site was pulled up by the council earlier this year for pruning protected trees without consent, and has since applied to fell two trees listed with the Dunedin City Council as significant.
The council investigated the pruning, but no enforcement action was taken.
The application for a consent to fell the trees, two oaks, both more than 100 years old, was publicly notified in July.
Eleven of 17 submitters opposed the application.
In his submission, Phil Edwards said the trees were of significance to the Mornington community and their loss would have a negative impact on the suburb and the natural landscape.
It was a concern that ''ongoing'' infill developments were reducing green spaces, he said.
Anna Thompson said the trees were a connection to the history of the site, a former war veterans and convalescent home established in 1918, and should stay.
Supporters said the trees were causing damage and shading areas, and should go.
Council planner Darryl Sycamore has recommended a council hearings panel grant consent to fell one of the trees, at the back of the site, and oppose consent for the other, on the Eglinton Rd boundary of the site.
The limbs of the first tree were at risk of falling on dwellings or people and its removal would benefit the adjoining house, but felling the second tree would adversely affect the character of wider residential area.
The council's hearings committee will hear the application next Tuesday.
