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Residents of a Wakari street are opposing a plan to fell a 90-year-old tree they say is an important part of the aesthetic make-up of the neighbourhood.

But the property owner behind the move says the European silver fir, protected as a significant tree by the Dunedin City Council, presents a danger both to people and the council infrastructure underneath it.

John Phillips, of Christchurch, says the issue, which came up during his work to subdivide a property in the street into three properties, has him on the verge of walking away from the project.

The matter is further complicated because the tree is on a tiny sliver of council land, and therefore is owned by the council.

It is now the subject of a notified resource consent, the council inviting public submissions, and a public hearing required for a decision.

Mr Phillips originally applied for emergency removal of the tree, and provided an arborist's report as evidence it was a danger to people and property, vehicles and pedestrians, and a 100mm water main under the ground nearby.

The report said the tree, which has a life expectancy of up to 500 years, had three "serious defects".

Those were where branches grew away from the main trunk.

Two of those had the potential to split from the trunk and endanger people and property, while another, "heavily end-weighted", overhung a proposed house on the subdivision.

Mature silver firs shed large branches during storms.

Mr Phillips said he initially had no intention of having the tree removed.

But about two months ago excavations had been done under the tree, and the arborists involved had raised concerns.

Roots had been cut in the past, and a water main, which he said fed about 20,000 homes, ran directly underneath the tree.

The tree weighed between eight and 10 tonnes, could triple in weight as it grew, and was "right on top of the water pipe".

Mr Phillips said he did not apply for resource consent, but asked for emergency removal of the tree.

"I don't know what the council are playing at, sending it out for resource consent.

"Our whole concern is the safety issue, and if the council is going to ignore that, then what can we do?"

Three nearby residents raised concerns with the Otago Daily Times during a visit to the site yesterday, and another has opposed the felling in a letter to the editor.

One, Tony Montgomerie, said the aesthetic value of the tree was his primary concern.

"It's a really beautiful tree, years old.

"I don't believe it's a hazard."

The others backed up his concerns.

Council resource consent manager Alan Worthington said a party could apply for consent to fell a tree on another's land, but would have to gain their permission to do so if it was granted.

Submissions on the consent close on September 13.