26 November 2018

Media: Rotorua Daily Post

Topic: Trees vandalised along Ranolf Street

Enquiry

On the drive to work this morning I noticed that three of the 18 new trees along the Ranolf St cycleway have been snapped in half over the weekend. They're between St Mary's School and Devon St. I was just hoping to check 1) if this had been reported to you and 2) if there has been any other vandalism in the area reported to you from the weekend.

Response

From Rob Pitkethley - Sport, Recreation and Environment Manager:

Yes the damage to the trees was reported to Council this morning.

It's always disappointing when community assets are vandalised. Council is working to enhance our neighbourhoods and make them attractive places to live. It was an important part of the Ranolf shared path design that trees were retained and we have had a lot of feedback about how great the area was looking.

Damage to trees is not unknown to council. We have had issues in several community orchards with trees being stolen or damaged. The orchards are often shared projects between council and schools or community groups so it is disappointing due to the impact on the local neighbourhoods.