A neighbour to the site where a centuries-old kauri tree was due to be felled says developers broke their promise to on-sell a section to her if she removed her bid.
Winnie Charlesworth and her husband, Andrew, have been at the forefront of the fight to save the tree – a battle which has been going on for two years.
- READ MORE: Kauri protester returns to ground
Speaking on RadioLIVE this afternoon, Ms Charlesworth said the land at 40 Paturoa Rd, Titirangi, had been on and off the market for 30 years.
"The final time they came up we were notified by a real estate agent who said, ‘there's very keen interest in them, so do you want to put in an offer?’.
"So we were sitting with the real estate agent putting in the offer and I got a text… from the developers to say 'how about we purchase them – you have one, we have the other’."
Ms Charlesworth and her husband had been long-time friends of the developers, John Lenihan and Jane Greensmith, after their daughters went to school together for a decade.
Not wanting to purchase both properties, Ms Charlesworth and her husband agreed with the intention of buying one of the sections off the developers in order to preserve the kauri.
The pair pulled out of the bidding at the developers' request – but the section was never on-sold. The real estate agent had asked whether they would like a written agreement, but the couple trusted their friends and declined.
Ms Charlesworth and her husband later met with Ms Greensmith at a café, to discuss plans for the property.
"She showed me for the first time the plan of number 40 Paturoa Rd and it had a house over the kauri tree," says Ms Charlesworth.
"I said firstly there's not supposed to be a house there because you were supposed to sell it to us, and secondly you're never going to take down that tree. And thirdly, I'm going to the highest court in the land because you're not taking down that tree."
On Friday arborists turned up to fell several of the trees, but told the couple they'd be back on Monday for the bigger ones – including the kauri and a 300-year-old rimu.
Ms Charlesworth, who says she couldn't look when the other trees were being felled, gathered other neighbours to launch a social media campaign against the felling.
By Monday morning protester Michael Tavares was secured 25 metres up the kauri, and the quest to save the tree attracted huge public interest. He stayed up there for 81 hours, before returning to ground this afternoon.
Ms Charlesworth says this is not a case of "sour grapes", and says Mr Lenihan and Ms Greensmith are "good people" with "different views".
She declined to comment when asked whether the couples were still friends.
In an open letter published this morning, the developers agreed to let the tree stay on site.
Auckland Council is expected to review the process which lead to the resource consent being granted in the first place.
3 News
source: newshub archive
