Robertson H V Ross: Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill — Procedure Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Robertson H V Ross: Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill — Procedure Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:657;Page:6193] 
H V ROSS ROBERTSON (Labour—Manukau East) 
: 
 In acknowledging the work that has been done at the select committee let me say to the presiding officer that I acknowledge and recognise the important part he too plays in the debate. 
This legislation will be dubbed the chainsaw massacre legislation because it opens the way for people to be able to remove trees that they do not like. Many of us know the importance of a tree. As an electorate member of Parliament I have served Papatoetoe for the previous 22 years Otara for 13 years and Otahuhu for just under 1 year. I can imagine some of the great trees that exist in Papatoetoe. I can envisage places like Kolmar Road and also Wallace Road where we have some wonderful oaks. Some of them overlap and I can see some overzealous people now using this legislation to be able to remove those trees if they do not like them. 
The Government is overreacting. Labour was accused of being a nanny State Government. We can now turn the tables and say this Government is a nanny State Government. This nanny State Government is putting forward this legislation and overreacting using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. In Auckland where population pressures are increasing our small areas of vegetation are under great pressure. Six out of seven Auckland local councils have general tree protection. The Environment Court accepts the approach declaring in favour in 2002 of an argument that general tree protection rules were necessary to achieve the purposes of the Resource Management Act. Clause 52 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill will undo that tree protection. 
It is not just my Labour colleagues or my Green colleagues who oppose clause 52. If we look at the  
New Zealand Herald 
 the headline on 7 September reads: “Tree law change aids ‘sneaky’ choppers”. I will quote from the article: “Homeowners whose trees are illegally chopped down by neighbours will no longer be able to count on council help once a proposed law change likely to become final this week is passed [into law]. The owner of Auckland’s biggest tree consultancy predicts more neighbourhood spats if the law scraps protection for trees of a certain height or size—and councils will no longer be able to step in. Stacy Colyer whose Greenscene company is often called in to help with disputes said there would be an increase in court cases over who owns large trees on boundaries.” 
Although one can accept the need to simplify and streamline the Resource Management Act I have found from experience that much of it comes down to the training of individuals in councils. It comes down to staff training and being able to handle applications for resource consents. 
Mr Colyer is concerned about clause 52. He says it means that in urban environments only trees or groups of trees that are specifically identified in a schedule of notable trees to a district plan in a reserve are protected by the Reserves Act. He says and he believes that some simple operational modifications could have been implemented to deal with the problem rather than act in a way with the legislation and with what it is intended to do. 
Mr Colyer has a lot to say. Some of what he says I agree with and I think the Minister should take some notice of what is being said. We know that trees are important for the environment. We know that there is urban sprawl in Auckland. We know that there will be a time when those people who are developers will want to remove the trees. They will use any opportunity they can to ensure that that happens. If we look around at some other countries that have environmental legislation we see the importance of trees and why they are there. In a lot of the countries vegetation wildlife and birds are affected by a lack of trees. As urban centres become more intensified the challenges facing the Government are greater.