TREES IN STREET

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21906, 15 September 1934, Page 10

TREES IN STREET

DRASTIC CUTTING BACK , f ■ AVOIDING RISK TO WIRES PROTEST BY RESIDENTS The well-known and bpnutiful avenue of Jmriris in Coronation Hoad, Epsom, the finest of its kind in Auckland, has suffered severely from drastic trimming just carried out by the City Council et the behest of the Auckland KlcctricPower Board. All the large trees on the western side have been cut back to avoid contact with the power wires, and for the time being the street has lost much of its unique character. The avenue, consisting of about 40 trees standing in two neat strips of laAvn, was planted 26 years ago by the original householders in the street, only two of whom now remain. The residents provided the trees at their joint expense, and fenced and tended thein until no further special care was needed. Eventually the trees grew to such a Bpan that their branches almost met across the roadway. Poles Wrongly Placed When telephones and electric power Were brought into the street the poles unfortunately were placed very near the alignment of the trees, although there was space for them along either edge of each grass-plot. As time went on and the trees grew tall, the Power Board and the Telegraph Department considerately had only sufficient small branches cut to avoid actual damage to their overhead gear. However, the Power Board recently decided that a risk was developing and called upon the City Council to cut back the trees ' standing under its wires. An inspection yesterday showed that one half of the avenue had been cut back to give a clearance of 4ft. or oft. below the wires. Limbs 6in. or more in dianeter on some trees hud been Severed, and a few were for the time being almost bare of foliage. All, however, had been carefully trimmed with an oye to symmetrical growth in future 'Above them the wires showed frayed inflation in places due to the rubbing of branches in wind. Across the road the other line of purici's stood untouched except; for indentations cut in their smaller branches to avoid the telegraph wires. The contrast was striking. t ' protest by Householders Kissidents in the street held an informal meeting on Thursday night and resolved to send a letter to the Power Board, expressing regret that the board had, not done them the courtesy of notifying them before interfering with the trees, which were their particular pride, and which they and their predecessors had planted " I believe that if we had beon given an opportunity of discussing the matter we might have found a way to avoid cutting the trees back so muclb," said one householder after the meeting. "Possibly we could have arranged with the Power Board to move its poles a little out of the wav; some of them are decaying and will have to be replaced before lon£ in any case." The city superintendent of parks, Mr. T. S. Aldridge,. said yesterday that the upper branches of some of the trees had died as a result of contact with the power wires, and probably if left as they were tne trees themselves would tdtimately have been killed —electrocuted, in- fact. Moreover, she City Council would have been legally liable to the Power Board for any damage to its gear. A Common Problem " We had to cut the trees back ■everely." Mr. Aldridge continued, " but they will retain their shape and make plenty of fresh growth. Before many montns you will hardly know that they have been trimmed. Now that we have got rid of the heavy upper branches it will -be ,an easy matter to keep them in good order and appearance without risk to the wires." Asked whether the other hall of the avenu6 would have to be' cut back, Mr. Aldridge said that probably this would be unavoidable next season, it might not be necessary to trim these trees quite so severely as the The difficulty in Coronation .Road is only a repetition of what has occurred in many Auckland streets. It is safe to aay that fully 75 per cent of the citv!s street* trees stand directly underneath electric power or telephone wires and therefore can never be allowed their full growth. The cost of putting the wires underground in residential streets is prohibitive. The only alternative apparently is to move existing poles and wires when possible to one side of a street, leaving spacti for a single line of well-grown trees on the other. " = •