Liz Evans, of Waikouaiti, who has campaigned against felling the trees, was responding to the council's new plan to fell the trees in four stages, with the first stage starting in November and the last tentatively set to finish in 2017.
The revised plan, prepared by council parks manager Lisa Wheeler, comes after residents objected to the council's original plan to cut the trees down in two stages, finishing next year, over concerns it would leave the town vulnerable to coastal erosion, sea level rise and being battered by wind and sand.
The Waikouaiti Coast Community Board will meet the community this month before deciding whether to approve the plan at next month's board meeting.
Ms Evans said the new plan failed to address those concerns.
''It's far too sensitive an area to do it in four stages. Those trees are our barrier between us and the ocean and we all know what the ocean is doing these days.''
By the time the four stages were finished, the trees planted in the first stage would only be hip-high, she said.
The protection the trees provided to the town was worth more than whatever amount could be earned from selling the felled trees and she would prefer the plantation was maintained, with the ''bad'' trees selectively logged,''When the trees were planted, which was close to 40-odd years ago, they were planted as a cash crop, but I think in 40 years we have come a long way, and the value of the trees is no longer ... [about] money.''
In a council report, Ms Wheeler said the new plan mitigated some of the community's concerns.
The timing and location of the stages beyond the first one would not be set in stone.
A 30m strip of trees along the coast would provide shelter and protection for the felled site while it was replanted. Community board chairman Gerard Collings said it would not make a decision on the revised plan until after the community was given a chance to have its say at a meeting on July 31 at East Otago Events Centre in Waikouaiti.
