Auckland City is this week completing the final phase of the removal of the Monterey pine on the summit of One Tree Hill.

The stump is being ground out to make way for the new planting later in the year. It was left behind when the 125-year old pine was felled last October.

Under the resource consent conditions for the tree’s removal, heritage and archaeological experts are monitoring the work to inspect and check anything discovered during the excavations of root and soil.

The area surrounding the stump has been fenced off to ensure the safety of the public while the work is carried out. However, the road to the summit remains open. The work began on Wednesday, May 2 and is expected to take three days to complete.

It is hoped that the pohutukawa and totara seedlings will be planted early next spring. However, this will depend on the outcome of the resource consent process for the planting, which is now underway.

Submissions on the planting proposal prepared by Auckland City, close on May 10. An independent commissioner, or commissioners, will convene a public hearing to determine the issues, with a decision anticipated by the end of June.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>