SAVE THE TREES - ALL OF THEM!

Yesterday I attended a packed public meeting to hear about the Government's plans to lift the blanket protection currently in place to prevent the clear felling of trees on urban sections as part of their reform of the RMA.

Despite getting 100s of submissions on this issue the select committee has ignored them & the Government plans to push ahead with this law change next week. This could be law as soon as 8 Sept. The chainsaws will be revving as I type...

The only way to change the Government's view on this issue is to show them the strength of public feeling & we don't have much time. MPs will only start to take notice if they receive over 1000 emails or letters on an issue - so this is my challenge - can we bombard the National & ACT MPs with over 1000 emails in the next few days & get them to save our trees?

If we don't I fear we will push pohutakawa & kauri to the brink of extinction and threaten all of our homes with flooding & landslips, not to mention losing the very thing that makes our place so special. Make no mistake this law change will mean that there is no longer any protection for any tree, native or otherwise, & anyone can cut down anything they want without having to get permission. It will be devastating for our suburbs & once its done there is no going back.

So I'm pleading with you to help me save our trees. PLEASE take a few minutes to email these MPs and give them your views. I have attached below the email that I am sending them. You are welcome to use or adapt it for yourself.

I have also included below the email addresses for all the MPs who need to be influenced on this issue. Labour & the Greens have committed to opposing the change & will be tabling amendments to try & prevent this happening.

If you don't have time to do them all then just target those MPs with narrow majorities - I have highlighted them in bold in the list below, plus John Key & Nick Smith the Environment Minister.

Please forward this message to everyone you know who cares about living in a healthy environment with trees, rather than a sterile concrete jungle. We only get one chance to save the trees & this is it.

Yours in hope that common sense will prevail :)
Mels Barton
GAG



Subject: Clause 52, RMA Amendment bill

Dear [MP's name],
I am writing to you to register my concern about the impact that Clause 52 of the proposed Resource Management (Simplifying & Streamlining) Amendment Bill 2009 will have on the urban tree population of New Zealand.

I request that you delete Clause 52 from the proposed Resource Management (Simplifying & Streamlining) Amendment Bill 2009 altogether, retain the existing tree protection provisions and seek to meaningfully engage with local communities in respect to any modifications of existing tree protection rules.

This proposal has the potential to decimate the trees that make our city the special place that it is. Pohutakawa, kauri and all the other beautiful icons that live only in New Zealand are already under threat. Changing the law so that anyone with a chainsaw can chop them down with impunity is insane and totally irresponsible.

I'm not sure whether you are aware that under the current rules it costs nothing to obtain a consent to fell a tree - there is NO CHARGE from the Councils & advice from Council arborists is also free. In addition over 85% of all current applications for tree felling are granted. So it is a complete myth that the current rules are both costly and restrictive to private property owners. Everyone agrees that the tree rules need to be reviewed, but removing the blanket protection is not the answer & will cause far more problems & cost than it saves.

The reality of what is being proposed will have a massive impact on property owners because their neighbours will be able to fell trees with impunity. In Titirangi where I live this WILL cause more landslips, which WILL damage property & roads. We already suffer greatly from instability due to the steep clay slopes, removal of trees will have an incalculable cost to us all. There will be many houses that will simply collapse if the trees protecting the banks that they stand on are removed. I have seen so many landslips just in the streets around my home in the last 10 years it is frightening. How will it be with no trees to keep the slopes intact? We will have no say in what our neighbours want to do with their trees if you pass this law. I am happy to drive you around Titirangi and show you exactly where slips have occurred and why if you'd like to see for yourself. In every case the removal of trees is the major cause of instability.

I'm sure I don't need to describe to you the great benefits that trees provide for us all, but one thing that is usually overlooked is the role they play in attenuating stormwater. The whole of Auckland has problems with managing stormwater, such is the nature of covering the land in concrete & roofs that increase runoff. Each tree attenuates 17 cubic metres of water per year. Can you imagine the extra flooding that will be generated by the wholesale removal of trees in our suburbs? Who will have to pay for the damage caused by that flooding & the upgrading of the infrastructure that will be required to deal with that water? The poor ratepayers of Auckland of course. With climate change affecting our weather & the real possibility that northern NZ may become wetter I suggest we should be planting more trees, not making it easier for people to cut them down.

The impact of removing the tree protection rules will be that massive tree loss will occur. Not only will people cut down more trees, but when development occurs there will be no requirement to undertake mitigation planting, as is currently the case. So not only will we lose currently mature trees but we will not be replacing them either. The economic cost to society of losing trees has not been taken into account in considering this law change and it needs to be.

I live in the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area. Local people campaigned for 35 years to get this special law to protect this special place in perpetuity from inappropriate development & land clearance. This law change effectively castrates the Heritage Area Act & makes protection of the very values that are its purpose impossible. Titirangi is special and people come here because of the trees. It is ludicrous to suggest that the Council could even begin to schedule the hundreds of thousands of trees in Titirangi to protect them - they wouldn't even be able to get at many of them, let alone have the resources to perform the task. If you allow people to chop them down you will destroy Titirangi overnight.

Personally I believe no one should have the right to destroy trees that are 100s of years old just because they don't want to clear their gutters out or they'd like to have a better view. We are all just passing through our properties & if individuals don't have the personal responsibility to recognise their role as guardians of the land then that needs to be legislated for. Unfortunately we all know that this is the case with so many people who only have a short term view of the world. If you pass this law the chainsaws will be out the very next day and we will all suffer the consequences for generations to come. Our birds and insects will disappear, our cool and shade will be gone. We will have nothing to remove our pollution and CO2, or treat our stormwater and hold our soil together.

Please have the courage and wisdom to see the stupidity of this law change and to protect the trees for generations to come. No one is saying the tree rules don't need to be reviewed - everyone knows that - but please don't throw the baby out with the bathwater & destroy our urban forest by removing the basic protection. When its gone it will be forever, this is one mistake we can't put right.

I'm begging you to remove Clause 52 entirely or at least vote for one of the amendments and save our trees. I look forward to your favourable response.
Kind regards,
Dr Mels Barton


All ACT, National, Progressive, United Future & Maori Party MPs:
john.boscawen@parliament.govt.nz
roger.douglas@parliament.govt.nz
david.garrett@parliament.govt.nz
rodney.hide@parliament.govt.nz
heather.roy@parliament.govt.nz
amy.adams@parliament.govt.nz
shane.ardern@parliament.govt.nz
chris.auchinvole@parliament.govt.nz
kanwaljit.bakshi@parliament.govt.nz
david.bennett@parliament.govt.nz
paula.bennett@parliament.govt.nz
jackie.blue@parliament.govt.nz
chester.borrows@parliament.govt.nz
simon.bridges@parliament.govt.nz
gerry.brownlee@parliament.govt.nz
cam.calder@parliament.govt.nz
david.carter@parliament.govt.nz
jonathon.coleman@parliament.govt.nz
judith.collins@parliament.govt.nz
jacqui.dean@parliament.govt.nz
bill.english@parliament.govt.nz
christopher.finlayson@parliament.govt.nz
craig.foss@parliament.govt.nz
aaron.gilmore@parliament.govt.nz
jo.goodhew@parliament.govt.nz
sandra.goudie@parliament.govt.nz
tim.groser@parliament.govt.nz
guy.nathan@parliament.govt.nz
john.hayes@parliament.govt.nz
phil.heatley@parliament.govt.nz
tau.henare@parliament.govt.nz
paul.hutchison@parliament.govt.nz
stephen.joyce@parliament.govt.nz
nikki.kaye@parliament.govt.nz
john.key@parliament.govt.nz
colin.king@parliament.govt.nz
melissa.lee@parliament.govt.nz
sam.lotu-iiga@national.org.nz
tim.macindoe@parliament.govt.nz
wayne.mapp@parliament.govt.nz
todd.mcclay@parliament.govt.nz
murray.mccully@parliament.govt.nz
hekita.parata@parliament.govt.nz
allan.peachey@parliament.govt.nz
simon.power@parliament.govt.nz
paul.quinn@parliament.govt.nz
eric.roy@parliament.govt.nz
tony.ryall@parliament.govt.nz
katrina.shanks@parliament.govt.nz
lockwood.smith@parliament.govt.nz
nick.smith@parliament.govt.nz
georgina-teheuheu@parliament.govt.nz
lindsay.tisch@parliament.govt.nz
anne.tolley@parliament.govt.nz
chris.tremain@parliament.govt.nz
louise.upston@parliament.govt.nz
nicky.wagner@parliament.govt.nz
kate.wilkinson@parliament.govt.nz
maurice.williamson@parliament.govt.nz
pansy.wong@parliament.govt.nz
michael.woodhouse@parliament.govt.nz
jonathon.young@parliament.govt.nz
jim.anderton@parliament.govt.nz
peter.dunne@parliament.govt.nz
teururoa.flavell@parliament.govt.nz
hone.harawira@parliament.govt.nz
rahui.katene@parliament.govt.nz
pita.sharples@parliament.govt.nz
tariana.turia@parliament.govt.nz