Owners of a west Auckland property where protesters are trying to stop a kauri being cut down now say the tree can stay - but they want compensation, Radio New Zealand reports.
In an open letter this morning, John Lenihan and Jane Greensmith said they would let the kauri, believed to be hundreds of years old, and a second mature tree, a rimu, remain on the Titirangi property where they want to build two homes.
The owners also said others, such as local iwi and the council, should own the site on the public's behalf - and they want to be taken out of the equation and given fair compensation.
But Auckland's deputy mayor Penny Hulse told Morning Report buying the land was not an option. She said the owners may want out, but the council needed to be very cautious about promising to use ratepayers' money to solve issues such as this because it set a very challenging precedent.
In the open letter, John Lenihan and Jane Greensmith said they had a plan to keep the trees.
“Let the trees stay including the Kauri which we have been calling 500, and the Rimu called 300. It doesn't matter how old they are as they now need to stay. Some other trees might have to go - this is the compromise bit, but let's keep it to a minimum. Trees grow faster than you all think,” the letter said.
Meanwhile, protester Michael Travares - who has spent four days in the tree in a bid to save it from felling - is to stay there until developers put it in writing that it will not be cut down.
Protest spokesperson Aprilanne Bonar told Morning Report it is a wonderful step in the right direction, but the agreement needs to be formalised before they start getting excited.
