The lure of free firewood might be behind a spate of illegal tree felling in parks and reserves, a council tree officer says.
This week police and council staff were called to two incidents; one involving a man hacking bark with a clawhammer from 60 pine trees on Dalziel Rd, and the other two men chopping trees on a Waikouaiti road reserve.
In the second incident the men claimed they were working for a landowner who did not have permission from the council to fell the trees. A final decision whether to fine the landowner was yet to be made.
With blue gum, macrocarpa and Oregon fetching more than a $100/cu m, there were those eyeing up trees in the city parks and reserves as a source of free fuel, or even to sell to others.
"It's not new, but it is happening more frequently recently as people feel the pinch and need some firewood," Dunedin City Council tree officer Elena O'Neill said.
In another incident a retired council worker was caught up a tree over the road from his property, using a chainsaw on council reserve.
One group in Warrington admitted cutting down trees to sell to others.
Those felling trees could be charged under the Reserves Act 1977 for wilful damage.
Ms O'Neill said if a limb was down and was in a manageable length, then the council was unlikely to have an issue with people taking the wood. The same applied to pinecones and small broken branches.
If a large branch was down it became a health and safety issue and council would send contractors to check the tree before cutting up the wood for free collection.
Members of the public who spotted anyone without an official vehicle and acting suspiciously with chainsaws in any public area such as the town belt, parks and reserves should contact contact the council.
"Trees are a community asset, and imagine if everyone in Dunedin cuts down a tree for firewood . . . that is 120,000 trees gone."
