Tell Council about your favourite public trees

On Prince William's first trip to New Zealand while he was crawling after buzzy bees, his mother, the the late Princess Diana planted a pohutukawa tree near the Cook Plaza on Gisborne's Titirangi Reserve. The Prince and Princess of Wales were on a Royal Tour of New Zealand and the tree was planted in a group of three other Pohutukawa trees. A plaque now indicates which tree Diana planted and is considered one of Gisborne's notable trees.

Gisborne District Council is putting together a list of all trees planted on Council land in Gisborne and Wainui that may be considered “notable”. Council owned land includes parks, reserves, road edges, and riverbanks. If you know about a special or historical tree planted in one of Council’s many parks and reserves let Council know about it. The list of possible notable trees has been put together based on existing research and staff knowledge. This list is available on the Council’s website http://www.gdc.govt.nz/notable-trees-on-council-land/

“We need residents to let us know what trees we have missed off the list or tell us the stories associated with a particular tree. If anyone has documents to support a tree and its history that’s even better,” said Kim Smith district policy team leader. “Gisborne people are very passionate about their trees. We want to be better informed about what trees we have now so we can make better decisions about their wellbeing in the future.”

“The better the information we have on these trees the more accurately we can assess them. The tree Princess Diana planted is no different to several trees in the area but the person who planted it makes it special,” Ms Smith added.

Once the list is finalised the trees will be rated on a number of factors. This includes how healthy the tree is, is it rare or particularly beautiful, does it attract birds or provide essential shade, is it very old or large and prominent? An important aspect of the assessment will be the history of the tree. Who planted it and was it planted for a particular reason?

The list will only document notable trees on Council owned land. The project does not cover notable trees on privately owned land.