Waitaki residents are to have a say in the future look of a popular recreational spot in Oamaru, after work started this week to clear-fell the Cape Wanbrow pine forest - two years earlier than planned.
The 38-year-old plantation was originally scheduled to be felled in 2015, but following storm damage earlier this year, the Waitaki District Council decided to begin clearing work this week.
Council assets group manager Neil Jorgensen said the trees had suffered ''considerable'' damage, and there was no option but to harvest them, because the forest was too unsafe.
''I have been told the block was all but flattened in a windstorm in the mid-1970s, after which it was replanted.
''The trees are probably now at a similar stage of life and I am informed that trees of this size are not well-suited to the weather and soil conditions on the Cape.''
Mr Jorgensen said the Cape was a popular recreation area and there would now be an opportunity to create a new vision for the area that would reflect its recreational, historic and biodiversity values.
''We will prepare an updated landscape concept plan for discussion with the community that will build on a concept plan prepared for council in 2011.
''The 2011 plan allowed for a number of clear viewing areas, native and exotic plantings of various sizes as well as walking and mountain bike tracks.''
The Cape had been closed to the public since June because of the threat of unsafe trees, and Mr Jorgensen said the immediate focus would be to remove the danger as soon as possible so the council could concentrate on re-establishing the tracks for recreational use.
