Activists scale Avondale trees to protect them from the axe

Ripu Bhatia Reporter from Community News

Hi neighbours,

Activists have climbed up native trees in Auckland's Avondale to stop developers from cutting them down.

Green Party candidate Steve Abel said only 23 of the 46 trees that originally stood at the site on Canal Road remain.

"They [the activists] don't intend to move," he told The AM Show on Tuesday. "They intend to stay there so the trees can't be cut down. The community will continue to resist. We're going to save these trees - we have to. We can't afford to let them be lost."

Abel was banned from the site after scaling one of the trees in July.

Blanket protection of trees in Auckland was removed in 2012 by the National government.

Auckland Council says only one tree in the reserve - a pohutakawa - is protected. It proposed a land exchange - taking ownership of the land the trees sat on, and offering the developer a nearby unused reserve - but this offer was rejected.

The previous owners of the site, the Raymond family, said the developer made removal of the trees a condition of the sale.

More than 7000 people have signed a petition calling for the council to buy the land.