9 April 2025: Gem St tree, Guardians on bikes
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Safe City Guardians Using e-bikes
Enquiry
I have spoken with Gem St resident Richard Diamond about the rotting tree in the Homedale St reserve and have the following comments and questions for response, please and thanks.
Diamond said he first alerted the council to rot in December, asking who to contact about it. He said he received no response.
He sent an email on January 17 showing the rotten crown and was told an assessment would be made on the tree.
Diamond contacted the council again on February 1 when a large branch came down across his fenceline.
He understood it was assessed to be dangerous on February 2, keep out tape was placed, the fallen branch was removed and no other action taken.
Two weeks later the tape was partially removed, and left hanging on Diamond’s fence. He strung that section to the reserve fence.
Diamond noticed in the last week of March a deadfall branch caught in the limbs of the rotted section and emailed the council again.
He received a call from the arborist who told him the urban forestry advisor disagreed with his assessment the tree should be removed.
Diamond took to social media to voice his concerns and emailed mayor Tania Tapsell on Wednesday March 26.
Two days later he received an email from her office and the recreation and open spaces manager that the arborist and the advisor redetermined the risk and tree health.
The manager’s email said the tree will be felled to “mitigate risk and conflicts with the power lines”.
“As such, we are treating this matter as urgent and to fell the tree we will need a permit due to the power line conflict.”
There was an apology for stress caused and the manager said the matter will be reviewed.
The tree was cut on Monday.
Big rotted sections, including near the base of the tree, were visible.
Diamond has claimed council incompetence for inaction in dealing with the rotting tree given the timeline above.
He says he felt unheard and believed the tree could have killed someone.
"It's like they put their head in the sand."
“Everyday, ‘is today going to be the day one of us gets crushed?‘.”
It was “wonderful” to have the tree down but Diamond said it “shouldn’t have taken me jumping up and down to do that”.
Diamond’s view was that the council failed to follow coronial recommendations made after the 2018 death of Trish Butterworth.
Coroner Wallace Bain’s recommendations included the council adopt a policy that should respond to and investigate complaints and concerns raised regarding public trees, and identify which are dangerous.
If found immediately dangerous, the tree must be removed by taking any action necessary to do so. This included by preventing access to areas, carrying out maintenance or removing the tree.
The policy should also prioritise public health and safety risks over amenity and historical value of trees.
He also recommended the council maintain a publicly accessible tree register which identified assessments and maintenance carried out on individual trees, expert recommendations made on them and whether those were implemented.
Coroner Bain also said it should employ a suitably qualified individual with necessary training and expertise to be able to ensure compliance with the policy, engage tree contractors and critically analyse the advice and recommendations received from tree contractors and arborists.
Can I please ask the council, as well as response to the above, how it improved its practices following Butterworth's death?
Which of the above recommendations were adopted?
How were these followed in relation to the situation explained above?
Why was Diamond's concern not followed up until the large branch came down?
Why was the tree not then removed?
What was the result of the February assessment and why was this dismissed?
Why was there no tape to stop public access to the tree? (Aside from when branch removed)
Before February, when was the last time this tree was assessed and what was the outcome?
Any other comment or relevant information?
Response
From Group Manager – Community Experience, Alex Wilson:
We acknowledge Mr Diamond’s concerns. Public safety is a priority for Rotorua Lakes Council and has been the key consideration with regards to the tree in Gem Street.
Staff have remained in regular contact with Mr Diamond and kept him informed as work progressed between late January and late march. The tree was assessed during each site visit and the most appropriate course of action was considered.
After receiving a call regarding concerns about the tree an inspection was undertaken and work on the tree was programmed. Unfortunately, within a few days of this inspection a limb broke off. This was cleared.
An initial decision to retain the tree was reassessed and in light of long-term maintenance requirements and powerline concerns it was decided it should be removed. A contractor with powerline certification was engaged to remove it.
Prior to this the tree was last checked in August 2023 in conjunction with work occurring on other trees in the same reserve. No problems were detected with the tree at that time.
Re council tree management policy/practices since the Coroner’s inquest: Council has employed a Level 6 qualified arborist as our Urban Forest Advisor and also has two other arborists on staff. Council’s tree management processes have been reviewed and all complaints and concerns are investigated, principally by our Urban Forest Advisor or one of the other arborists if required.
As has always been the case, public safety is the main priority for deciding what needs to be done with any public tree.
Trees that are assessed as dangerous are cordoned off to prevent access and maintenance or removal works are programmed.
Any work required is undertaken by suitably qualified contractors.
We have a tree register for all street and reserve trees that contains information on assessments and maintenance for approximately 20,000 trees. We are currently working on providing a public portal that provides access to this register.
Re how RLC policy/practices were followed in relation to Gem St tree: See above re actions taken
Re tape removal: council staff did not remove the tape.
Re Mr Diamond’s comment that he received no response to his initial enquiry with council: we cannot find any record of having received an enquiry from Mr Diamond in December.
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Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Safe City Guardians using e-bikes
Enquiry
Following on from enquiry regarding use of e-bikes by our Safe City Guardians the reporter had the following additional question:
can I ask how the bikes have been employed between 2018 and giving them to the guardians? Is the council replacing them in its general fleet (and how) or were they not being used enough?
Response
We provided the following information:
There are staff who regularly use the e-bikes but they are not all in use all of the time and it was determined, based on current use, that two could be allocated to the Guardians for their use to assist with community safety patrols.
