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Construction company T&M Heather felled about 10 toa trees while working in the Tikioki coastal area early last month. LOSIRENE LACANIVALU.
A construction company has been issued a violation notice after it felled 10 ironwood (toa) trees on the waterfront at Tikioki Rarotonga Fruit Park, despite claiming it was for safety reasons and the public interest.
Last month, an investigation by the National Environment Agency (NES) found that no formal consent had been obtained to fell the trees.
The government agency said the activity was a breach of the Environment Act 2003, which makes it an offence to “remove silt, sand, pebbles, gravel, boulders, coral or any tree from the coast or Cook Islands waters” without prior written consent under section 50(1)(a).
Earlier this week, NES director general Halatoa Fua confirmed that a default notice had been issued to T&M Heather Ltd.
“Please be advised that a breach notice has been issued. The matter is currently under review and we will be working with the Crown Law Department and taking their advice on the next steps,” Fua told Cook Islands News.
Joseph (Jojo) Heather of T&M Heather defended their actions, saying the trees were dangerous due to their “weak roots” and so they decided to prune them to a manageable height.
Heather said he has responded to NES’s notification letter and is awaiting a response.
In the letter, he stressed his reasons for doing the work and his ownership of the land.
“I responded to the letter and they didn’t respond to me, but I responded saying I had verbal consent because we also trimmed the tree next door but it was a bit tall and that was also verbal consent so it was no problem,” Heather told the newspaper.
“But in this one, they said I violated the regulations because I didn’t get consent, but I gave verbal consent because I did the one next door. But they (NES) said we have to mow it to this (certain) height, but my people started complaining why we have to mow it so high, it will cost more and the environment department will not pay for it.
“I’m just maintaining this place (the waterfront) … and all the feedback from the public is that they are talking about my property, but it’s not theirs at all. It’s private property. What right do they have to talk about my property?”
Heather is opening the area where the trees were cut to the public and he stressed that visitors to the beach are now enjoying the area.
“Tourists love this place; they come here to play on the beach and I open it to them. I will not close it because it is my own property and I don’t know why these people are talking about my trees,” he added.
“These are my trees, I planted them and now they want to sue me? Take me to court, these are my trees, if anyone wants to talk about this, come to me.”
Heather has previously insisted they are working in good faith and that they are fully cooperating with the NES investigation.
“We’ve done a lot of work in the area over the past 10 years. The trees are prone to falling over in strong winds because of the rising sea levels, the weight of the trees and the erosion of the sand around them. So we decided to prune them down to hedge size, we didn’t cut the trees down and they can grow back easily,” Heather said last month.
“There is also a bus station there and over the years, cones and branches from these trees have been falling on the roof of the bus station, causing it to rust. We replaced the roof and also did some maintenance work.
“No one wants to do anything about these problems, but if we do something, everyone will protest about it. There are tourists coming to this area to enjoy the sun and the beach, but there are too many shade trees… and the fragile branches of these trees can also be dangerous to them.
“Our intention is to make this area safer for everyone to use.”
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Comment
Sami Mataroa August 16, 2024
I think the backlash against the pruning of these trees is completely unjustified. I have snorkelled around this site on a number of occasions and I can personally attest to the danger these trees pose to beachgoers. The Heathers made it clear that these trees were planted on their private land. As owners they have the right to manage their own land, which includes pruning or cutting down trees as required. Isn’t this common practice for any landowner in this country? I mean, we all trim our hedges, we prune our trees, we all cut down trees when necessary to make room for our homes. I do think it seems inconsistent that NES issued a violation notice in this case while ignoring similar actions elsewhere. For example, when the trees outside the Avarua CITC church were cut down, the trees in the middle of the USP intersection, or the trees outside the Takitumu school were all cut down, all for public safety reasons. The Heathers acted out of reasonable safety concerns. Ironwood trees have weak roots and can easily topple in strong winds. If one of these trees fell on beachgoers, people would be quick to jump to accuse the Heathers of not maintaining the trees. Those who complain need to remember that the Heathers could close access to their beachfront property, which would disappoint all of us, including tourists.