April 2021
Work to establish the track for the excavator began on Friday 9 April, with the removal of some native and exotic vegetation.
On Tuesday 13 April, the first of the pine trees were felled and as of 30 April, 98 pine trees (including poles) had been removed, ranging in size from five to 42 metres.
The mulch resulting from log chipping was used in the restoration planting or moved off the site to be used in other restoration projects across Auckland.
23 Copper Skinks were found during the works and relocated to Auckland Zoo.
March 2021
This phase saw the felling of the remaining exotic radiata pines which were at the end of their natural life span. This was followed by the planting of around 8,000 native trees and shrubs such as Kauri, Taraire, Kohekohe, Puriri, Titoki, Kanuka, Mahoe, and Karamu. The floodplain of Motions Creek was restored with wetland and floodplain native plants, including Sedges, Flax, Manuka, Cabbage tree and Pukatea.
Prior to this work, surveys for indigenous bats and lizards were undertaken (February-March). No bats were detected in the forest, although the ecologists working on site captured 14 Copper Skinks, and relocated them to a safe habitat in Auckland Zoo. Ecologists continued to search for copper skinks during the construction of the access track as well as look for active bird nests.
November 2020
On 3 November 2020, the Waitematā Local Board voted to proceed with the existing resource consent to remove all pines trees in the forest at Western Springs Lakeside Te Wai Ōrea Park using the lower impact methods identified in Professor Visser's independent technical report (PDF 29.7MB) to the extent legally possible within the resource consent.
By a majority, the local board agreed that whole stand removal of the pines using Professor Visser's lower impact methods would be the best option to meet the board's objectives for the Western Springs Native Bush Restoration Project (to protect the existing ecology, enable access to the forest and to comply with council's health and safety obligations).
October 2020 update 3
The Tree Consultancy Company (TCC) assessed 198 pine trees in the Western Springs Forest between 21 September and 8 October 2020. TCC provided the council with their final technical report following this assessment.
In addition, the council received further independent technical reports from Dr Rien Visser University of Canterbury and from Bioresearches.
October 2020 update 2
The Waitematā Local Board held a workshop on 13 October 2020. At this workshop the preliminary findings of an independent assessment of the pines were presented by The Tree Consultancy Company. The workshop provided the local board with an opportunity to ask questions directly to the external consultants about their findings and preliminary report.
The relationship with the Tree Consultancy Company was managed via the council’s Assurance Services to ensure transparency and to give assurance that the advice provided was independent and expert advice.
The information contained in the report produced by The Tree Consultancy Company helped inform staff advice to the local board on the reasonably practicable options available to achieve the objectives of the Western Springs Native Bush Restoration Project (to protect the existing ecology, enable access to the forest and to comply with council’s health and safety obligations), and the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
October 2020 update 1
Council staff and the Waitematā Local Board engaged an external consultant to carry out an independent assessment of the pine tree stand in Western Springs Forest.
This assessment provided additional information for the local board to consider when they made a decision about whether to proceed with removing the full stand of pine trees as per the existing resource consent, or consider an alternative option to manage the trees. Given the risk of falling pine trees or tree branches, the forest remained closed to the public including when contractors were present.
The local board intended to take a decision on whether to proceed with the consented works on the pine trees at a business meeting on Tuesday 3 November 2020.
July 2020 (amended October 2020)
There were delays to the start of this project due to interruptions caused by the COVID-19 lockdown and the local board was yet to make a decision on whether or not to proceed with the consented works to remove the pine trees.
As the council advised that some of the pine trees pose a health and safety risk, we notified the residents and businesses most at risk.
By the end of July 2020, fencing was extended to prevent public access to the pine tree fall zone in Western Springs Lakeside Te Wai Ōrea.
March 2020 (amended October 2020)
The Waitemata Local Board voted to delay taking a decision on whether or not to proceed with the resource consent to remove the stand of pine trees.
The area remained closed due to health and safety reasons, while the local board considers the future of the pine trees.
