Planting upsets Summit Rd group

Press, 21 May 1982, Page 1

Planting upsets Summit Rd group

A commercial pine plantation in the Cashmere Valley is upsetting the Summit Road Society, which wants some of the trees removed. The society’s president Mr V. W. Jameson, shown pointing to the seedlings, said that the extent of planting, by the McVicar Timber Group breached the Summit Road Protection Act. The company was also cashing in on the time lag between the Heathcote County Council's operative district scheme and its reviewed scheme, which

would have restricted planting. The society would probably ask the Canterbury United Council to enforce the act, which protected the strip of land from 30 metres below the Summit Road up to the skyline. The planting had spoilt the scenic value of the area. When the trees grew, they would obstruct the view from the road between the Sign of the Takahe and the Sign of the Kiwi. “It is the wrong usage for a perfectly delightful natural

valley,” said Mr Jameson. The company’s managing director, Mr G. N. McVicar, said that some trees, were, perhaps, too close to the protected road area. If that was the case, they would be removed. Mr Jameson was “wasting time” renewing objections which had been recovered in 1979, "As far as I am concerned, we are not taking advantage of anything.” said Mr McVicar. The timber crop, of about a million trees, would take another 20 years to mature before harvesting.