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Old-schOOl extra-mile service and tip-tOp results, time after time Helen Michell 021 210 3228
a lt O G e t h e r B e t t e r
April 5, 2024
Projects to take toll on traffic, parking... p2
More nude swimmers XXX... p14 take the plunge... p22-23
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Interview: Footballer Maia Scott… p26-27
Arborists put $400k price on replacing two trees
Removing and replacing two problematic trees in Anne St in Devonport could cost up to $409,000, council arborists have claimed. Residents fighting to be rid of the trees that produce slippery leaf litter and block drains on their flood-prone street were aghast at the estimate, which was presented to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board last month
before it narrowly decided the trees should be retained. The decision – on the casting vote of chair Toni van Tonder – reversed a board request made in August that the trees be removed. Stressed residents, who live in dread of heavy rain causing more flooding, were angered by the arborists’ estimates of $209,500
to $409,500 for a removal option which included replacement of the introduced mallet-flower trees with eight natives in specially built tree pits. The estimate was a “straw man” option with a huge and unsubstantiated cost, one of the residents, Dame Judy McGregor, told To page 8
Oh brother! Sibling rivalry on show at fair
Brothers at war… twins Rei (at left) and Tate Bentley (7) go head to head at the jousting station at the Belmont Primary School Fair. More pictures, story, pages 10-11.