The other two p\u014dhutukawa were again not touched. <\/p>\n
The woman said she phoned the council\u2019s tree contractor Arbor Care and it was inspected the same day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are fed up and fuming, and so are we.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman said it appeared someone had stood back and sprayed the poison from shoulder height before emptying the remainder of the container around the tree\u2019s trunk.<\/p>\n
The p\u014dhutukawa tree’s leaves were sprayed with poison \u2013 the third time it has been poisoned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis time it is impossible to remove all the poison from the tree\u2019s leaves, and we\u2019re really concerned about whether the tree will survive, particularly if it is targeted again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s upsetting and infuriating. Why would someone poison such a beautiful tree three times? We don\u2019t believe these were random attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman said trying to save the tree was costing significant ratepayers\u2019 money, as well as contractors\u2019 time and effort. <\/p>\n
She said the council needed to explore ways to catch the offender or at least deter them, such as installing a discreet camera on the tree and erecting a light pole nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe person responsible needs to be found and charged.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fencing did not prevent a third poisoning. Photo \/ Sandra Conchie<\/p>\n
After the previous two poisonings Arbor Care removed contaminated soil, replaced it with thick layers of mulch, and installed fencing to limit access to the tree\u2019s base.<\/p>\n
The fencing was later extended after the second poisoning incident. <\/p>\n
Both remedial works cost nearly $1000. <\/p>\n
Tauranga City Council head of spaces and places Ross Hudson said most of the tree\u2019s foliage appeared coated in the substance, covering a significant portion of its canopy. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are unable to determine the exact substance used; however, based on visual observations, we believe it may be motor oil.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hudson said he could not confirm exactly how much product was applied or how high up the tree it was sprayed. <\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the visible damage extended across most of the tree.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, due to cumulative impacts of repeated poisoning events, the young tree is now unlikely to recover. At this stage, our only option is to leave the tree in place and monitor its condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hudson said the council had taken reasonable preventive measures within its remit, including extending protective fencing around the tree.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, we are not in a position to install surveillance cameras to monitor individual trees across the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described the repeated attacks as \u201cextremely disappointing and disheartening\u201d, and said it was \u201cfrustrating\u201d to see a young tree repeatedly targeted in this manner. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not know who is responsible… At this stage, we do not have any information that identifies or implicates a specific person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hudson said the tree was planted in response to community requests, and residents strongly supported an upgrade in the area.<\/p>\n
He said if information became available, it would be referred to the appropriate council team to investigate and determine any appropriate enforcement action.<\/p>\n
Hudson said anyone who witnesses suspicious behaviour should contact the council and provide as much information as possible so the matter could be investigated.<\/p>\n
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post with more than 25 years\u2019 experience. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional\/community reporter of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The other two p\u014dhutukawa were again not touched. The woman said she phoned the council\u2019s tree contractor Arbor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7972,2082,111,43,139,69,110479,218902,2642,1227,3755,2044,15981,4741],"class_list":["post-603160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-beach","tag-for","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-phutukawa","tag-poisoned","tag-rd","tag-tauranga","tag-third","tag-time","tag-tree","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}