More than 400 trees are destined for the chop at Queenstown’s Kelvin Heights — with another 100 also planned for removal.
Queenstown Lakes District Council’s community and strategy committee yesterday voted unanimously to approve requests by the Queenstown Golf Club, Wakatipu Reforestation Trust and Wakatipu Wilding Conifer Group (WCG) to remove the trees, which are primarily wilding Douglas firs.
They were the first applications under the council’s new tree policy, adopted by the full council last Thursday.
The golf club will be removing 290 trees — 26% of which are not wildings.
However, club chairman Athol Stephens said there were a further 100 the club wanted to remove, which had been omitted from the public feedback process.
They would now be subject to a separate application.
At the Jean Malpas Nursery, in nearby Jardine Park, the trust sought to remove about 100 ageing trees, and the wilding group wanted to remove 20 Douglas firs in the same location.
In all cases, each tree would be replaced by at least two natives or non-invasive exotics.
"We can’t win this battle [against wildings] with seed sources at the current levels in the district — unless we get rid of those seed sources, we’re endlessly bailing out a boat."
Regarding the golf club, Mr Hensman said the replacement trees would be better species which would be more aesthetically pleasing and better for birdlife, and would not leave "dead areas" underneath.
"I think the end result of all of this is a much-improved asset, which is the community’s asset at the end of the day, being the leaseholder."
In relation to Jardine Park, Mr Hensman said "a lot of work" had already been done there.
"This is just a progression of that work."
Following public feedback, the majority of the 27 respondents were in support of all the proposed tree removals.
Those opposed were concerned about the loss of shelter and negative impacts to neighbouring properties, which would be exposed to wind; how the removals would affect stand dynamics for the remaining Jardine Park trees; and the change to the character of the surrounding area.
However, Mr Stephens said the time had come to clear the course in a more wholesale way of as many Douglas firs as possible.
"They’re a terrible tree, because whenever the wind blows, cones come off, spread all over the place, cones drop their little seeds into the soil and the whole process gets under way again.
"They really are a massive seed-spreader, and they leave an unholy mess behind."
Increasingly, the club was becoming a popular place for leisure tourists but gradually the "iconic" views were being obscured by the trees, which were also becoming an "imposition" on the course.
While Cr Niki Gladding was concerned felling healthy trees at the golf course — including eucalyptus and poplars — required an assessment under the new policy, parks and open spaces planning manager Briana Pringle said if some were left within the stand, there would be issues with "wind loading".
