We had many complaints about fallen phoenix palm fronds that littered part of Buckley Ave in recent few weeks. HPRS and many locals made requests to AC to tidy them up and they were eventually taken away. That’s only half the job, of course, as the 30 big palms along that stretch of road badly need maintenance. AC’s contractors made a nice job in summer of the palms in the park close to Catalina Cafe, but now we’re hanging out for the rest of them to be trimmed of all those dead, brown fronds. We have heard the job is scheduled for June. Let’s hope so. It helps if AC gets lots of requests – the more the better. So if you want to add your voice to the chorus, call the complaints line – 301 0101 – and ask for the palms to be attended to. Quote this job number: 8110230861. It also helps to emphasise to the call-centre person that the sharp spikes on the palms are toxic and so they are a health and safety risk, with many pedestrians using the footpaths beneath them every day.
By the way, trees are a constant cause of complaint to HPRS. Some owners have recently offended neighbours with the rough way they’ve attacked pohutukawa trees in their gardens – lopping the tops off straight off with a chainsaw.
If you’re needing to have a big tree pruned, do get some advice on how best to preserve the tree’s shape while taming its height.
