Resident wants sycamores left as noise barrier

Port Chalmers resident Peter George at his home in Mount St  near the corridor of sycamore trees...
Port Chalmers resident Peter George at his home in Mount St near the corridor of sycamore trees he believes blocks noise from passing trains. Photo: Peter McIntosh.
A Port Chalmers resident wants trees in a rail corridor to remain and for Dunedin Railways to consult residents before the chainsaws get cranking.

Peter George wants the sycamore trees beside the railway tracks near his home in Mount St to be left alone.

Dunedin Railways said it was removing the trees to give tourists on its trains a better view of the suburb.

The sycamore trees lining the tracks acted as "noise protection" from passing trains for the people living in the area, Mr George said.

No-one in Port Chalmers had been told about the planned work, he added.

"I think it’s pretty mean they haven’t consulted us," Mr George said.

Dunedin Railways chief executive Murray Bond said it was leading a project, with the support of KiwiRail, to have a contractor remove a "150m stretch of sycamore trees beyond Iona Church in Port Chalmers in the next three months".

"It’s purely for views — mainly for people going on our Waitati trips, mainly on cruise ship days to get a better view of where their ship is berthed."

Residents living near the trees set to be felled were not consulted, but were welcome to contact him with feedback on the proposed work.

"Maybe we can leave a few in place ...  we are pretty flexible because what we want to do is improve views and partial removal of trees is better than none at all."

The contractor set to fell the trees, Monowai Ecological Ltd owner Matthew Thomson, believed the "invasive weeds" should be removed as planned.

"These things grow like wildfire."

The work was part of a bigger project to remove sycamore trees from across West Harbour and would improve the biodiversity of the area.

The noise protection from the trees would be minimal, he said.

shawn.mcavinue@odt.co.nz

Comments

The contractor set to fell the trees, Monowai Ecological Ltd owner Matthew Thomson calls the sycamore trees "weeds"? Going by the dictionary.com the definition of "weed" is a valueless plant growing wild. They are in this case not valueless as they act as a noise barrier for those living in Mount Street Port Chalmers. Are they growing wild? Who knows?

 

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