A Totara woman has to remove up to 200 trees she has planted along her boundary for shelter after a neighbour complained she was breaching the Waitaki district plan.
Ms P. D. R. Lindsay-Salmon, who has a lifestyle block in Waiareka Valley Rd, planted three rows of eucalypt and wattle trees at 5m, 10m, and 15m from the boundary as a coppice wind break.
But after completing the planting, she was told by the Waitaki District Council two rows of trees had to be removed because they were within 15m of the property boundary.
The third row, planted at 15m, can remain.
Trees that were planted up to 5m from a boundary before the 15m rule was introduced in the district plan in 1999 could remain.
When contacted yesterday after writing to the Otago Daily Times, Ms Lindsay-Salmon said she had spoken to the council before she planted the trees and understood they could be within 5m of the boundary.
However, after they were planted, the council received a complaint, inspected the plantings and told her the two rows had to be removed.
She plans to do that at the next growing season - the end of winter - and replace the two rows with shrubs.
"As this is zoned rural land and the boundary fence is not near a road or house . . .
"I am miffed.
"It seems a crazy rule for rural land like this - that's two rows of cash-earning trees I cannot plant along my boundary," she said.
It would lead to a lot of unused land for people in her position, loss of tree cash crops and carbon credits.
To plant to 5m from the boundary would require a resource consent, which could cost $2000 to $10,000, or a change to the district plan, which could cost about $20,000.
Ms Lindsay-Salmon said changing the district plan was not a priority for the council, but could "move up the list" if there was popular support.
She has appealed to tree croppers, nut growers and other owners of small blocks who wanted to earn cash and carbon credits and thought the 15m restriction was a lot to give up to contact her to support a change to the plan.
Council regulatory manager Paul Arnold said the council received a complaint that Ms Lindsay-Salmon had breached the district plan.
It had tried to reach a compromise between her and the complainant but was not successful so had to enforce the district plan and have the trees removed.
Ms Lindsay-Salmon had suggested replacing the trees with shrubs and that would be considered by the council, subject to her providing a list of the plants she would use, he said.
