MORE ABOUT THE TREES

Southland Times, Issue 23044, 11 November 1936, Page 6

MORE ABOUT THE TREES

Danger To Power Lines WARM DISCUSSION BY COUNCIL THREAT TO CLOSE THE MEETING The topping of trees at Queen’s Park—a topic which at the last meeting of the City Council was so contentious that two councillors left the meeting during the discussion—was again before the council last night. A tender for the work was accepted at the meeting after a good deal of discussion, even more heated than at the previous meeting. The discussion produced a sharp clash between the Mayor, Mr John Miller, and Cr A. W. Jones, in which the Mayor threatened to close the meeting unless Cr Jones withdrew a statement that “the Mayor was talking nonsense.” A further feature of the discussion was a sharp criticism by the Mayor of the action of the city engineer, Mr F. M. Corkill, in permitting a plan of the trees, used by Cr Jones in the discussion, to be drawn in the council s office. Mr Corkill, in a discussion with the Mayor, which was inaudible to the council, appeared to defend the action. The Mayor later said that the engineer had defended the action, Mr Miller saying: “This is the sort of thing I have to put up with.” “For Unknown Reason.” The discussion was opened by the Mayor, who said that in the first place it had been left to Mr Jones, who was the chairman of the Reserves Commit- , tee, and himself to open tenders received for the work of topping the trees. For some reason not known Cr Jones had declined to come and meet him to open the tenders. It had thus, Mr Miller continued, fallen to his lot to open* the tenders and to accept an opinion on them from the super intended of reserves, Mr B. P. Mansfield. The lowest tender, that of E. J. Crisp and G. Smith of £44, was much lower than the others, and the price was such that, although no provision was made for the work, the cost could be met from “contingencies.” Cr J. H. Tattersfield said that he could not understand why Cr Jones would not meet the Mayor Cr Jones: Was 1 sulking as you were at the last council meeting? Cr Tattersfield: I don’t know what you are talking about. Cr Tattersfield went on to discuss the need he said existed for the topping of the trees. He read a letter, also before the council, from the city electrical engineer, Mr A. C. Carman, on the danger the trees were to the power lines and said that the trees, near power lines, constituted real danger zones. He moved that the tender mentioned by the Mayor be accepted and this was seconded by Cr E. J. McLauchlan.

Engineer's Letter. The letter sent by the city electrical engineer was as follows:— “I wish to call the attention of the committee to the continued danger to the city electric supply from the trees along the Elies road boundary of the park. The danger is not only from trees being blown down and fouling the transmission line, but also from small twigs and pieces of bark (which are long enough to reach across two wires) being carried by the wind from trees which are higher than the line. During this year we have had one interruption of an hour’s duration caused by a tree, and several other shorter interruptions caused by branches and pieces of bark; also we have removed a number of the latter before they had caused trouble. “The actual loss of revenue to the Electricity Department and tramways is the least of the factors to be considered. Practically the whole of the city’s industries and services are dependent on the electric supply, and any interruption, however slight, causes serious loss and inconvenience, particularly in plants such as flour mills and seed-cleaning plants. In conclusion, I wish to impress on the committee that any tree exposed to high winds, which in falling is long enough to foul the line, is a danger and should be kept below that height. This precaution will also practically eliminate the danger from twigs and bark.” Cr H. Ritchie said that it seemed foolish merely to top the trees, because they would sooner or later have to come down completely, and if the trees were cut down now the timber might be sold.

Cr Jones said the matter had been before the council for a long time and he would like to make an explanation of its history and the reasons he held for his own views in the matter. He produced a plan which, he said, showed typical trees. The Mayor: Where was that plan produced? Was it in the city engineer’s office? No member of this council has the right to ask any officer of the council to prepare a report for his own special benefit without the council’s authority. Cr Jones: It was for the benefit of the council. That is where you show your ignorance. “Aesthetic Standpoint.” A history of the previous requests to have the trees topped was given by Cr Jones, W’ho claimed that the trees were essential from an aesthetic standpoint, and that the root structure of the trees abviated any risk of their falling against the power lines. This contention was opposed by Cr Tattersfield, who further asked whether the plan shown by Cr Jones was true to scale, or just an “imaginary picture.” Could the city engineer answer the question, he asked. Cr Jones: The engineer did not draw it. Some more interjections from Cr Tattersfield drew from Cr Jones the question: “Who’s running this meeting?” The Mayor: I m running this meeting. No councillor has the right to have plans prepared by the council staff for his special benefit. I have been speaking to the engineer about it now, telling him it was wrong, but he has rebuffed me and says it is nothing of the kind. This is the sort of thing I have to put up with. This councillor wanted a plan and got it through the council staff. Cr Jones: Don’t talk nonsense. The Mayor (rising): If you don’t withdraw that, this meeting closes up. Cr Jones said he had too much respect for the affairs of citizens to cause the meeting to be closed from a remark of his. He would withdraw the remark. He continued that his object in producing the plan was to enable councillors to visualize the position of the trees. Cr Tattersfield: Who drew the plan? The Mayor: It has already been said that it was done in the city engineer’s office. Cr Jones later accused Cr Tattersfield of asking Mr Carman to put in his

report about the trees. Cr Tattersfield agreed that he had asked for the report because, he said, Cr Jones had claimed at a previous meeting that there was no report before the meeting. Cr Jones: That is not so. There was a report last March. An Amendment. After considerable further heated discussion and cross-talk over the table Cr Jones moved as an amendment’ that the topping of the trees be referred back to the Reserves Committee to deal with in reasonable time. He claimed that the trees should be topped, but that they should not be topped ruthlessly. . After further argument, some of it heated, the amendment was lost by seven votes to four, and the tender for the topping of the trees was accepted, the work to begin in a fortnight.