Mt Roskill / Puketāpapa
The maunga’s lower slopes today.
How the same view would look if its iconic Phoenix palms were felled.
Red alert! A non-notified resource consent has been approved for felling 160 trees on this maunga - 60% of its entire tree cover.
A community group - Protect Mt Roskill's Trees - has been formed to prevent the felling. For more information or to help:
Email: protectroskilltrees@gmail.com
Facebook: Roskill Tree Protectors
A BRIEF HISTORY
Puketāpapa / Mt Roskill was a fortified pa under Māori occupation from at least the 13th or 14th century but was no longer intensively occupied when European settlers moved into the area in the mid-1800s. In 1841 Ngāti Whātua exchanged 13,000 acres, which included Puketāpapa, with the Crown.
In 1845 Governor Fitzroy sold Allotment 49, comprising 95 acres around and including the mountain to Alexander Kennedy. The mountain was then known as Kennedy's Mountain. Kennedy on-sold the mountain to Joseph May in 1849. May built a substantial homestead on the site of the present Akarana Golf Club, with an entrance that passed the base of the mountain on the northern side. The entrance was lined with significant gardens including an avenue of Phoenix Palm trees.
After his death in 1891 May's sons sold his landholding to George Winstone. By 1932 the extensive (over 400 acres) Winstone Estate was being subdivided and developed for residential (mainly state) housing. Nine hectares of the Winstone Farm, including the mountain were given to the Mt Roskill Borough Council and became a recreation reserve know as Winstone Park Domain.
In 2006 Ngāti Whātua and the Crown signed an agreement in principle that included transferring ownership of the Winstone Park Domain to the iwi. As a result of overlapping land claims, the transfer did not proceed.
In 2014, control of the 9 hectare Mt Roskill was transferred to Tūpuna Maunga Authority under the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Act (a Treaty settlement ). As was the case with other maunga, the land was placed in trust “for the benefit of Ngā Mana Whenua and the other people of Auckland”. The “other” people includes Maori who were excluded from that Treaty settlement, as well as people of other ethnicities. The land was designated a reserve, thus guaranteeing public access.
SIGNIFICANT ALTERATIONS TO THE MAUNGA
1940 - 60: Access road to upper level of mountain.
1962: Water reservoir installed in crater
2005: Lower slopes taken for motorway construction
2005 - 2009: Tennis, bowling and croquet clubs and children’s play area removed
INFORMATION ABOUT TREES ON PUKETAPAPA / MT ROSKILL
Total trees on maunga (over 3.0m tall): 267
Exotic tree number: 185
Exotic trees to be removed: 160 (25 Exotic trees are to remain as they are not accessible, being behind houses on the Dominion Rd boundary)
Native tree number: 82
Trees remaining exotic trees are removed: 107
Significant trees: The 17 Phoenix Palm trees on Mt Roskill are the remnants of a significant planted entryway to the May Homestead ( since demolished ) built in the mid 1800's. As such they have historical significance to the story of the development of the Mt Roskill Borough.
INFORMATION ABOUT THIS MAUNGA’S REPLANTING PROGRAMME
In all, the Authority plans to replace the felled trees with 8991 native plants. However, a plant expert has assessed the proposed replanting list and advises that the vast majority of native plants are ferns, grasses, flaxes and low-growing shrubs. Less than 10% of the proposed new plantings can be considered trees that will achieve a height in excess of 5 metres at maturity. Furthermore, it could take up 50-80 years for those tree plantings to reach the size of the exotics that are being felled.
And that assumes all of the plantings actually survive. New plantings on other maunga have had recorded failure rates (i.e. the plants did not survive) of 80% - 98% during 2019/20 due to inhospitable conditions and poor after-planting care.
Of the 8991 new native plants proposed, it is possible that only 60 - 75 significant trees would survive the replanting process. This is far less than half the number of mature trees that the Authority wants to remove.
TREE FELLING RESOURCE CONSENTS FOR PUKETAPAPA / MT ROSKILL
Application for non-notified resource consent for tree removal was approved on 8 February 2021. This means tree felling could happen at any time.
Registration number: 9429035779629
Consent reference: LUC60347931
Status: Application approved.
Tree removal methods proposed: Manual removal / machine excavator / mobile raised platform / crane assisted
See here for other documents relating to the TMA’s plans for Mt Roskill.
PLEASE HELP SAVE MT ROSKILL / PUKETAPAPA’S TREES
A community group - Protect Mt Roskill's Trees - has been formed to prevent the felling. For more information or to help:
Email: protectroskilltrees@gmail.com
Facebook: Roskill Tree Protectors