Tūrangi trees come down as street revitalisation project ramps up

TREES! There are two camps in Turangi. There appears to be no middle ground. There are them that likes ’em and them that hates ’em.

This local issue was as much about the trees, as the leaves. At this time of year, the deciduous varieties lose their leaves and for some people, the fallen leaves create so much extra cleaning-up work, they are a curse.

To others, the leaves are just beautiful. A visual reminder of the seasons with colder winter approaching, a colourful changing vista to enjoy.

The benefits to residential lifestyle are obvious. They look fantastic. That adds huge $ value. No argument. These wonderful deciduous European giants provide shelter and shade during the hot summer months and let the light and warm sun through in winter. They provide a warm snuggly feeling of calm maturity like a security blanket along the town streets.

After a storm, a few mature trees can create problems. Taupahi Road was just one of many that were blocked after the last major storm, but fortunately it was wide enough for cars to drive around the edges. With any trees, there is always the risk of falling branches, which can be dangerous.

So a couple of years ago the Toe-paw council decided the mature deciduous trees had to go. They called it “The Turangi Street Revitalisation Project”. (Revitalisation?) After fifty-plus years, the original MOW (Ministry of Works planners designed the town) landscaping design featuring deciduous trees to provide an ideal residential setting was proving to be too much trouble. Some of their roots had fractured water pipes and footpaths.

Toe-paw Council’s golden opportunity arrived to fund the project – $6.5 million from the Government’s shovel-ready fund to replace all the old street gutters as well. Some rejoiced. Others were sad. The original plan was for about 94 trees to be removed according to the newspaper report (- repeated below). Most residents did not realise that was just “Stage 1”. Now we are told the total is over 500!

Confession: We retired (?) on the more obsolete pleasant eastern side of Turangi which was unaffected by the Turangi Street Revitalisation Project, (until the Red Oak was felled on Taupahi Road!) where we worship our mature trees, so we have to be like Switzerland and cannot comment either for or against the council plan. But I also trust you can read between the lines…

As a change from the Tongariro River Trail, Juno took me for her morning walkies around suburbia to try to photo the “before-and-after” scenarios. These images are to try to compare some suburban streets. The underground power was already in place – in fact, Turangi was the first town in NZ with underground power reticulation installed. (We live in the old side of Turangi that was known as Taupahi, with the usual leaning lamp-posts supporting sagging wires that have been here over 70 years, since the 1950s.)

Please do not forget to admire the new gutters and drains. Very swish. So where would you rather live?

Many of the adjoining houses now have several years’ supply of oak and elms for firewood stacked up in their front yards. There are not many streets remaining with any vacant land now available for new housing. The Government and Council architectural planners must be very chuffed with their contemporary modern look – clean sharp profiles in their exciting new state housing project (without being spoilt with street views obliterated by horrible leafy trees) below.

(Above is the Government’s latest exciting attractive Architect designed new state-of-the-art contemporary residential development in Turangi. OK – I know we should be thankful, but surely they can design better-looking houses than these. Remember, you paid for it!)

At this time of the year, between seasons, so many tourist visitors comment on how fortunate Turangi is to be able to witness the seasons changing so vividly. These tourists’ opinions are important as tourism is still the economic future for this village. (Forestry was also right up there until the last cyclone)

They are referring to the leafy falling parade of colours of course. But when we reluctantly confess the council is removing about 500 of them they are so shocked. They cannot believe any council would be so silly as to deliberately destroy the visual character and heart and soul of the town.

They tell us the reputation of other tourist towns – i.e. Cambridge or Arrowtown – relies largely on the deciduous yellow-bronze-gold-red colour parade at this time of the year. They stress that without the trees Turangi’s reputation will suffer and revert to being like any other tired struggling small town.

Then when we try to apologise for our Council’s plans and to explain how most of the councillors who made those decisions to remove over 500 trees for Turangi’s revitalisation project don’t live here, they shake their heads in sorrow.

(Above photo pinched off the Turangi fb noticeboard. Try to picture it without the leafy canopy…)