Several old macrocarpa trees on two arterial roads in Invercargill will probably be chopped down after the recent storm highlighted their risk to human life.
The inaugural meeting of the new Infrastructure and Growth Committee decided today that the trees on the corner of Elles Road and Tay Street, and Queens Drive and Don Street would need to come down.
Strategic advisor for open spaces and recreation Chris Bowen delivered a report to the committee outlining the cost of $500,000 to remove the trees and for future landscaping of the areas.
Councillors were given two options, including to close the roads when future storm events were predicted under the ‘orange’ alert settings or chop them down.
But it was clear that the majority were in favour of their removal - following the October storm where motorists narrowly missed being hit by falling trees during the 140km/hr wind gusts.
The report also outlined several significant tree failures over the past seven years within the city, resulting in damage to assets and roads.
Fortunately, none of the incidents have led to fatalities, and Mayor Tom Campbell said they were extremely lucky nobody was killed from the October storm.
The report said a contributing factor for the past tree failures wa the increasing frequency and severity of storm events, a trend consistent with recent and projected climate change impacts.
“These events have demonstrated that even healthy trees may be vulnerable to total failure under extreme conditions.”
Within minutes of the incident, What's On Invers founder Mike Sanford, who was among the first on the scene, shared his reaction.
“When you watch the video of that tree actually going down, it really could have been quite devastating for our community,” Sanford said. “I guess it was just good luck — or the grace of God — that the way the traffic lights were timed meant there were no cars backed up along Elles Road in the direct path of the tree.”
Sanford arrived moments later and began streaming live on the Facebook page to warn people to stay away from the area.
“I remember thinking at the time that it probably wasn’t the safest place to be,” he said. “I had one eye on the camera and one eye on the other trees, just in case they decided to come down as well.” We had RNZ, NZ Herald and 1 News all contacting us asking to use the footage. The original Facebook post got over 932K views.
After the 2019 event on Victoria Avenue, which caused damage to vehicles, council staff developed the Invercargill City Council Tree Plan 2020, to support the ongoing management of trees under council responsibility.
The plan focuses on “the right tree, in the right place, for the right purpose”.
A local state of emergency was declared throughout the Southland region, including in Invercargill and Bluff, after the severe wind event struck on 23 October. Thousands were left without access to critical infrastructure, including electricity, for extended periods following the storm.
The state of emergency was lifted on 7 November.
The committee’s recommendation to remove and replant the trees on Elles Rd and Queens Dr would be voted at the next full council meeting on 16 December.
If the recommendation is agreed upon at council level, the next steps would involve engaging a contractor to remove the trees, completing a landscape design for the affected sections of the Town Belt and replanting the area.
Watch the aftermath after the tree had fallen and closed Elles Road.