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Background Information

1998-2006 Owner tries to do the right thing

In 1998/99 the Owner of 30 Queens Drive realised that the Lime tree the family had enjoyed for 20 years had become an issue and on arborist advice 2 ton bracing was added to the tree to make it safe.

The bracing was added to try and reduce the amount of movement at the base of the Tree to avoid it breaking. These lasted for a while but eventually one snapped and others were too underpowered as the Tree remained growing, making them no longer effective.

In 2005 it was obvious that the tree bracing was not going to work long term because the crown of the tree when in full leaf was putting too much pressure on the joins of the three stems in the Tree when there were high winds, known as wind throw.

The owner being a good community minded citizen called into the Parks & Gardens office of the Ashburton District Council situated in the Ashburton Domain to offer the Council a cutting from the tree, because if a better specimen of the tree could be grown it would make an ideal addition to the Ashburton Domain.

At this point an arborist firm had been booked, with the tree being cut down within days. An unexpected trip to Dunedin meant that the arborists were put on hold until the Owner returned.

Whilst the owner was in Dunedin, the Ashburton District Council placed a temporary protection order on the tree so that the owner couldn't cut it down when they returned from Dunedin.

Background: More Info

2006 - 2016
For 10 years the owner tried everything in their power to get the Ashburton District Council to see sense. They spent tens of thousands of dollars getting qualified arborists reports, consulting with resource consent specialists and hours and hours of lawyers time to try and make the community safe.

When the previous owner became frail, a multitude of people tried to help, by appealing to various counsellors and the mayor for someone to make a sensible decision.

Sadly the previous owner passed away with a heavy weight on his conscious, worried that he had left an impossible burden on his family to try and resolve.

On this website you will have the opportunity to view the reports by three qualified arborists who collectively agree that the Tree has two major structural defects that cannot be corrected. There are differing opinions on the most effective way to possibly mitigate the Tree failing. However there are no guarantees that these options will protect the neighbors or their properties from harm.

The Ashburton District Council have made the choice to ignore the possible Health & Safety risk to the Ashburton community because the Tree is healthy.

2018-2020
My name is Tracy and I purchased the property to take the weight off this impossible situation off the shoulders of the estate beneficiaries. I was working in Christchurch and needed somewhere to call home.

After initially contacting the Ashburton District Council to find out how to manage the tree, the owner was advised that the Council managed all maintenance and that the tree no longer required pruning because it has reached maturity. When questioned about when the tree was last pruned the response was 2011.

My limited research advised that that for trees with included bark, the best options to limit the tree splitting, the recommendations are crown pruning to reduce stress on the defect, cabling which has to be done when the tree is young to be effective or removal.

So in 7 years no maintenance had been carried out by the Ashburton District Council. When asked for some evidence that this was the recommended maintenance plan for the tree, no evidence was provided. Neither had yearly inspections been carried out as indicated would happen.

In 2020 COVID hit and following lockdown the Council wanted to complete a yearly inspection, despite none having been done for 2 years.

The state of the economy made it necessary for me to sell the property at #28. Lots of people came to the open homes and viewed the property, however most of them had concerns about the Lime tree. Eventually one buyer was prepared to purchase, but they wanted to build a fence on the boundary.

The Council was approached about approval to erect the boundary fence which would be within 10 metres of the base of the tree. Their response was to reiterate that in the District Plan no earthworks can be done within 10 metres of the tree, BUT they wanted the Council arborist to be present when we dug the holes for the fence posts. When questioned about the conflicting advice, no response was received from the Council. In the meantime the buyer lost interest and the sale was lost.

Eventually a buyer was found and the sale went unconditional, at which time the owner approached their insurance company to update them. Insurance cover was denied because the Insurance Underwriters felt that the Size, location (proximity to neighbouring properties) and the bracing have highlighted the risk involved which was too great for them.

This has put the current owner in an extremely precarious situation, not being able to secure insurance cover to indemnify themselves against failure. In fact it meant that I was probably never covered because the insurance underwriter would have probably not paid out on a claim.

The question needs to be asked, how can a Council put a owner in a position where they can't eliminate the risk to human life, damage to property and not be able to insure themselves against financial ruin?

There are no known situations in New Zealand where a private land owner has been successful holding a local council liable in the event of a disaster. All responsibility falls to the owner.

I stand to lose everything I have worked for over the past 30 years and have no control of avoiding this from happening.

This should not be allowed to happen......

On the documents tab above you can find copies of the Arborists reports and other documents relating to the Resource consent application by the current Landowner to have the Tree removed.