Progressive Enterprises has released new planting plans as concerns grow over its proposal to remove five established pohutukawa at the Belgium Street entrance of its new supermarket site.

Residents speaking out over the move have grown in numbers during the past couple of weeks with a new protest group called “Protest to Protect” formed through social networking site Facebook.

Participants called for an on-going protest that started at the end of last month and is planned to continue until April.

Banners and signs have already been appearing along Belgium Street bearing slogans such as “Stop the Chop” and “Chop Down Count Down”.

Messages have also been appearing at the Donald Bruce roundabout and in Hamilton Road in Surfdale.

But Progressive is saying the trees will be removed and not chopped down.

“The trees will have to be removed due to the nature of the design of the supermarket. It is so we can open it up where it faces onto Belgium Street. The location of the five trees does not work with that,” Progressive Enterprises spokesperson Luke Schepen said.

He said the company intended to look at relocating the trees elsewhere and would be open to ideas from the community.

He said the current proposal was to relocate two of them to planters on pavement buildouts onto the street at the front of the building, with the other three joining hundreds of new trees scheduled to be planted at the back of the site.

The planting schedule sent to Gulf News by Mr Schepen shows 18 pohutukawa as well as nikau and cabbage trees among other species.

“We’ll have a look to see if there’s anything else we can do to incorporate plants at the front into the design,” he said.

Auckland Council has confirmed all native trees over three metres tall are protected and remained so after 1 January 2012 when legislative changes came into force in other parts of the city.

“Resource consent approval will be required to remove, modify the root zones or prune these trees. If you cut down or damage a protected tree you may be liable for prosecution and a fine,” a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, other concerns about the urbanisation of Ostend, such as the possible sell-off of land to commercial interests where the Ostend Service Centre currently sits, have been dismissed by Waiheke Local Board chairperson Faye Storer.

This is despite past talk of a new service centre building eventually being erected on Telecom’s former site next door as a possible option to ensure the facility remains in Ostend.

“This area of Belgium Street is zoned ‘commercial’ and therefore commercial development can be expected to take place here,” Ms Storer said in response to enquiries from Gulf News last week.

“The Hauraki Gulf Islands District Plan – which has gone through many years of preparation, public consultation and hearings – is now close to completion and the intention in the plan is clearly to create more of a street environment for Ostend.

“Council officers are currently investigating an upgrade of the existing service centre rather than a new build. 

“So it’s reasonable to assume there are no plans to sell this piece of land in the medium term, if at all.” •
Diana Worthy