Judicial Review decision update 23 December 2020

This afternoon Honour the Maunga was advised that Tūpuna Maunga Authority has agreed not to fell any trees on Ōwairaka until 29 January 2021, which will allow the Judicial Review applicants time to decide whether the decision will be appealed.

We welcome the development, which provides our group time to consider our own arrangements in light of the decision. This means that, for now, we will maintain our part-time daily presence just outside the Authority-administered land.

There is still the prospect of trees being removed for health and safety reasons. We note that there is no evidence of any formal health and safety assessment ever having been done on the maunga’s non-native trees, something that should happen before any significant tree work or destruction occurs based on health and safety grounds.

We therefore call upon the Authority to engage an independent third-party to undertake a tree-by-tree assessment, using an internationally recognised arboriculture best practice methodology, before any health and safety-related works are done.