It’s looking like an early white Christmas at Tainui Reserve in Havelock North.
But while some people love the scenery the aspen poplar trees provide when they drop their fluff, others say it’s making their lives miserable.
Ann Christie, who lives in the direct path of the falling fluff, has been fighting to get something done about the trees for more than 30 years.
When Local Democracy Reporting visited Ann in her home this week, all of her doors and windows were shut, and her air conditioning was switched off so it did not become clogged. Outside it was 25C.
The fluff, described by an expert as “highly flammable”, was in the air and everywhere you looked.
“This is a good day,” Ann said. “At least we can go outside. If it was like this all the time I wouldn’t mind.
“But all it takes is a bit of a breeze and away it goes. It wrecks the garden, goes through the house and the shed and if I forget to shut the bathroom window it covers our toothbrushes. It covers everything.
“When it’s bad you just can’t go outside.
“We have talked to so many people over the years about it, but it feels like we are banging our heads against a wall.”
In 2004, then Hastings District councillor Dinah Williams came to see them and she told Ann “you can’t live like this”.
Williams then commented in a story published in Hawke’s Bay Today on December 8, 2004, about a call for the trees to be removed saying:
“If these people want to have a barbecue outside they can’t. These people cannot come out of their house. They are housebound.”
“If I lived there, I would be fighting to get them [the trees] removed,” Williams said.
A letter dated September 24, 2004, from the Hastings District Council sent to Ann and signed by a horticultural officer and copied to then-mayor Lawrence Yule said he had assessed the stand of approximately 30 poplar trees in Tainui Reserve adjacent to their property.
“And can confirm that they are nearing the end of their safe useful life. They also meet the requirements for removal under the Hastings District Council’s Tree Removal Policy through the excessive undesirable seeds.”
He estimated it would cost $33,000, in 2004 money, to fell and remove them from the site.
The letter said there was no funding available to carry out the work in the current financial year, but they would put the matter to the next council meeting requesting funding as an unbudgeted item.
However, a nearby resident was against the removal of the trees, Ann said. She lobbied the council and wrote to nearby residents.
“And that was the end of that,” Ann said.
“Most of their properties are not affected by the fluff.
“That was 20 years ago. Now the trees are so huge and branches keep breaking and falling to the ground. They are dangerous.”
Vicky, a nearby resident who declined to give her last name, said she “hates the trees with a passion”.
“They bother me a lot. One of those trees is going to kill someone one day. They drop branches all the time.”
“The fluff clogs up my air-conditioning and it goes all through the house. They are not a thing of beauty and joy. It would be lovely to have natives here.
“I love trees but not them. They have passed their use-by date.”
However, Ben and Nikita Bos who regularly walk their dog in the reserve told Local Democracy Reporting they disagree and want the trees to stay.
“It happens once a year and it looks like it’s been snowing,” Ben said.
“If they were cut down the park wouldn’t be the same. They provide shade and are beautiful trees,” he said.
Janine, who lives just down the road and also declined to give her last name, says she spent a lot of time in the reserve with her energetic dog, and thought the scenery the trees provided looked quite pretty.
“I know it can affect people with hay fever but it only happens for a short time and they could wear a mask or choose somewhere else to walk for a while.”
A spokesperson for the Hastings District Council said the council had received complaints periodically over the years, particularly at this time of year when the fluff is produced.
They said the council was aware of concerns raised about the adverse impacts of the poplar fluff.
“The current and draft reserve management plans provide for exotic trees, including these poplars, to be progressively replaced when their health is in decline.
“The trees’ condition is regularly assessed and the timing of any potential removals is managed under Council’s Tree Removal Policy which takes into account such considerations as their age and condition, and any safety risks.
“The trees will be inspected in early December but there are no plans to remove any at this point.”
Hawke’s Bay Tree Surgeon owner Jonty Apatu said the trees were prolific in Hawke’s Bay.
“The drier and hot windy weather is the perfect scenario for their seeds to spread. The seeds are highly flammable, so get them out of your gutters.”
By Linda Hall, Local Democracy Reporter
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
