Protester Abseils Down 500 Year Old Kauri

But Councillor Questions Officers’ Handling of Resource Consent Application After 72 hours and a brokered stalemate, Kauri tree protester, Michael Tavares started abseiling down the 500 year old Kauri tree at 12.15pm.

“Now that the Kauri is safe, while negotiations can take place, I’ve done my job and it’s the community’s fight to resolve the details” he says.

However, the Save Our Kauri group who presented a 26,000 petition to Auckland Council this morning are concerned by comments raised by Councillor, Christine Fletcher, who has questioned the expertise of the council officers processing the resource consent application.

She alluded to the officers not being informed enough or having the skill level to make such a resource consent decision given the biosecurity issues with Kauri dieback disease in the area and believes it should have gone to a specialist.

“This raises serious questions about the handling of the resource consent process and an independent enquiry needs to take place so the public know that this never happens again” says spokesperson, Meanwhile, the Save Our Kauri group is commencing appropriate decontamination procedures and spraying all the equipment, compost and rubbish coming down off the tree with Trigene disinfectant that treats Kauri dieback.

For more information go to www.facebook.com/saveourkauri and follow hashtag #saveourkauri.

ENDS

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