Trees on two Dunedin City Council-owned blocks damaged by high winds in May are being felled for safety reasons.
City Forests has been felling the 60 to 80-year-old radiata pine trees in a block next to the Dunedin Botanic Garden on Lovelock Ave and has felled an about 2ha block on Signal Hill Rd.
Dunedin City Council parks and reserves team leader Martin Thompson said the trees on Lovelock Ave had been hit by high winds three times in the past year. Downed trees had opened up the block and caused root plates in remaining trees to lift.
"There was a serious risk if future winds [hit]."
The macrocarpa trees on the outside edge of the block would remain and, once the block was cleared, the council would assess what could be replanted there, he said.
On Signal Hill Rd, below the monument, a privately owned forestry block next to the council-owned trees had been felled, destabilising the remaining trees, so the high winds in May had caused severe damage.
City Forests, a council-owned company, was harvesting the trees from both blocks for marketable timber, with the hope the returns would cover the cost of felling, Mr Thompson said.
