Councils will be able to protect more urban trees from being cut down under a new national planning framework being developed by the Government.
Associate Environment Minister Phil Twyford said the new Natural and Built Environment Bill currently before Parliament enables the new framework to make it easier for councils to protect specimen trees of a certain height.
"It will make it easier for councils to protect the trees that people love, big trees in their neighbourhood," the Minister said. "The question is how do you define that?"
The most likely rule could be based on how high the tree is. That has yet to be worked out but any tree over a certain height could require a resource consent to prune or cut down.
"We are not going back to the bad old days pre-2009 where people have to apply for consent for trimming a tree," said Twyford.
Blanket tree protections were removed in 2013, with councils having to schedule individual trees for protection. In a previous story by Newshub Nation, Minister Twyford acknowledged that was inadequate. In that same story, Dr Mels Barton from the Tree Council described the loss of urban trees as "wholesale slaughter".
In another planned change, councils would also be required to have an "urban ngahere" or "urban forest" strategy.
Auckland's current tree canopy covers 18 percent of the city but the council has a target of 30 percent. Tywford said international best practice is 40 percent of a city covered by trees.
The Urban Forest strategy would be voluntary but could become mandatory for councils at a later date.
Green Party spokesperson Eugenie Sage said: "Greens are pleased the Government is belatedly recognising urban trees need better protection. However, these proposed changes appear a long way off."
Watch Simon Shepherd's original investigation into urban trees from October 26 above.
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