This month the Clutha District Council approved further consultation on a two-stage replacement process for the trees beginning with selective pruning and planning of replacement trees before felling the old trees over a five, seven or 10-year period.
The proposal includes felling the unpruned trees at the southern end of the park for the Taieri Mouth Amenities Society to remove the logs, and a Green Family Memorial area to be established at the southern end of the park - about 23m by 5m.
Joanna Green originally donated land at Livingstonia Park, and members of her family requested a portion be made into a ''living memorial''. The family would plant out the area and maintain it.
Livingstonia Park backs on to Taieri Beach and is sheltered from the wind by a row of about 70 pine trees. It includes a playground, a wide playing field, picnic tables and chairs, as well as an information kiosk on its history and the role of the Otago-Southland War Amputees Association in creating the park.
''In considering their future, it in no way wishes to take away from the memory and efforts of the war amputees who first established the trees 50 years ago,'' a council flier distributed to Taieri Mouth residents said.
Last year, the council felled one of the pine trees at the southern end of the park after a request from the Taieri Mouth Amenities Society, as the tree was dying.
Before the tree was felled, an independent arborist assessed the condition of all the trees and found most of them were showing signs of senescence - a normal part of the ageing process for trees - which was visible in a decline in the upper canopy and a thinning of the crown.
This was expected to lead to the ''inevitable loss'' of more trees because of wind and storm damage, and this would have a snowball effect, as the removal of trees at each end would put further pressure on the ability of the remaining trees to survive.
Submissions close at 5pm on January 28.
