TREES NEAR POWER LINES

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 71, Issue 6140, 24 September 1945, Page 2

TREES NEAR POWER LINES

AMENDMENT TO ACT. Observing that the powers sought by the Board were the) same as those that other local bodies already possessed for the control of tree-plant-ing, the chairman of Thames Valley Electric Power Board* said at a recent meeting of that Board that the advice of the Board’s solicitors had been that a local Bill to deal with the tree menace would not be necessary. All that was needed was an amendment to the existing Power Boards Act to allow t£ie framing of by-laws to control the planting of trees.

A letter from the solicitors outlined the powers of tree removal exercised by drainage boards, Government departments, and municipal authorities. After a short discussion the proposed amendment was approved by the Board, and if approved by the conference of interested boards to be held in the near future will go forward to Parliament with the following clauses:—

1. This Bill may be cited as the Electric Power Boards Amendment Bill, 1945, and shall be read together with, and be deemed part of the Electric Power Boards Act, 1925.

2. If any tree or trees growing on any land shall cause or be likely to cause any damage to a transmission line, or shall be in contact with, or be likely to come in contact with, any transmission line, the board may by notice in writing require the owner or occupier qf such land |to fell, lower, or trim the said tree or trees to the satisfaction of the board within two months from the date of service of the notice.

3. Within one month after such notice the owner or occupier may by complaint under the Justices of the Peace Act, 1927, require the board to appear before a magistrate to show cause why the notice should not be set aside.

4. On the hearing of the complaint the magistrate, whose decision shall be final, shall decide as to whether the notice should or should not be set aside, and in the former case the notice should be deemed to be void. 5. If the notice be one for the felling of a tree or trees growing on the land prior to erection of the transmission line, the magistrate may require the board to supply to the owner or occupier suitable trees to be substituted for those he felled, and may require such to be planted and established by the owner or occupier at a reasonably safe distance from the transmission line, and may thereupon extend the time .for felling the offending tree or trees to and for a period not exceeding ten years. Provided that during such extended period the said tree or trees shall be subject to such further requirements by the board as may be necessary from time to time for lowering or trimming, and at the end of the said extended period shall be subject to felling by the board notwithstanding that in the meantime there may have been a change or changes in the ownership of occupancy of the land. 6. When no complaint has been lodged, or having been lodged the notice has not been set aside, and there has been no extension of time under ( the immediately preceding section, jf the Owner or occupier shall fail to- comply with the requirement of the notice within the time therein specified, the board may enter upon the land and execute the work of felling, lowering, or trimming as the case may be, but so that no unnecessary damage is done or incurred thereby. And similarly where there has been an extension of time under the immediately preceding section, and at the end of such time the tree or trees specified in the notice have not been felled, the board may thereupon and without further procedure or notice enter upon the land and fell the said tree or trees, but so that no unnecessary damage is done or incurred thereby. In felling a tree or trees in accordance with this Act it shall not be necessary to cut the bole of the tree to a lesser height than three feet from the ground.

7. No compensation shall be payable by the board for or in respect of the felling, lowering, or trimming of any tree or trees effected in accordance with the terms of this Act.