Great news in the Waitakere Ranges Local Board agenda that Auckland Transport have stepped back from the removal of the Karekare Pohutukawa and are investigating the design of a prop. So for now at least the tree is safe.
But an even more important outcome of this campaign has been the admission by Auckland Transport that they do not in fact have a “legal requirement” to remove any vegetation within a 4.25m high box around our roads. So the rest of the trees over the road in the Heritage Area & elsewhere in the city are also now safe.
Huge thanks to everyone who has supported the campaign – especially The Tree Council, Waitakere Ranges Protection Society, Ted Scott, the Waitakere Ranges Local Board and the media – and thanks to Auckland Transport for seeing sense and protecting this taonga of the Heritage Area for future generations.