Nothing annoys me more than self-righteous busybody Greenies who have no respect for private property rights. When I first heard about the poor property owners who did everything by the book but who were still prevented from building on their own property, I was furious.
It was a complex tale that included a next door neighbour who missed out on buying the land and who then decided to make the new owners’ life hell. It included cameras being pointed at the property to prevent the owners from cutting down the tree in the dead of night (as I would have done if it had been my tree).
It also was a tale where the age of the tree was very much in dispute, with the protestors claiming it was very ancient but other experts claiming that it wasn’t at all.
From memory, it also included a smelly hippy deciding to live in the tree for a time to prevent the owners from cutting the tree down as they were legally entitled to do. Instead, they had to face years of legal bills in order to develop land that they owned and in order to cut down a single tree just because some tree-hugger thought it would be fun to use them as a tool to get publicity.
I would have turned the hose on him and given him and the tree a good soaking. How dare he cause the owners so much expense and grief. How dare he and the others decide to override by force the permission granted to the owners to clear their land enough for a home to be placed carefully amongst the trees.
The MSM article on the final court decision only told one side of the story.
Court rules against protecting Auckland kauri
RadioNZ
Some of you may remember a few years ago when protesters climbed up a Kauri in Auckland, and stayed there, objecting the possible felling of the tree.
Since then there have been continued attempts to save the tree, named Awhiawhi by local iwi, from being cut down.
Yesterday the multi-year court battle effectively came to an end when the Environment Court declined a Permanent Protection Order for the centuries-old native.
Local resident Winnie Charlesworth led the campaign to save the kauri and she tells us about the ruling.
I feel so much for the owners of the land. Lawfare is a terrible thing; it traps you for years and you are unable to make any plans for your future. They may have finally won the right to build on their land and to chop down the tree, but will they now be able to afford to?