Vandals chop down and poison 23 sacred trees and shrubs in Takapuna
Kia ora koutou. Vandals have allegedly poisoned and cut down dozens of native trees and shrubs of huge significance to Māori near Takapuna Beach.
Around 23 trees and shrubs at Te Uru Tapu (The Sacred Grove) at the northern end of the beach were discovered to have been vandalised during a regular inspection by Auckland Council’s senior urban forest specialist on Tuesday.
The grove of ancient pōhutukawa trees is of high significance to mana whenua, with the trees and vegetation in the area protected by the Auckland Unitary Plan.
A section of the grove has been fenced off since June 2018, due to the risk of trees falling onto a boardwalk below. It appeared someone had deliberately entered the restricted area to cut down the trees, which included karo, karaka, nīkau, tōtara and coprosmas. Drill holes were also found at the base of three mature karo trees, which suggested they had been poisoned.
None of the trees are expected to survive. Auckland Council has launched an investigation and is asking anyone with information to email sacredgrove@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Click 'read more' for the full story.
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Food and product recalls
These items have been recalled during the last month. If you have any of these items at home, click on the title to see the details:
Product recalls
Avanti, Malvern Star & Raleigh bicycles
Yoto Kids Speaker
Anko Kids Pyjamas
Battery drill chainsaw attachment
Industrial pedestal misting fan
Yamaha adaptor
Zero Tower safety harness
Naturacoco moisturising cream
Thule child bike seat
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Our Fruit Box fruit juices
ProLife Foods value packs - nuts, raisins.
YY Dumplings & Fu Yuan ready-to-eat meat products
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Beautiful Aqua
This is one of those if you don’t ask you will never know posts. And please keep all negative comments to yourself. This gorgeous girl is called Aqua, and she is an 18-week-old purebred black German Shepherd puppy. Aqua has been lame for about 4 weeks and is not getting any better. It is thought that Aqua has a condition called Ununited Anconeal Process (UAP). The right front elbow looks quite badly affected and will need an operation costing approximately $2000. I am currently trying to raise some money towards her operation. A highly intelligent girl who is fully toilet trained, tether trained, semi lead trained, stop trained, come trained. She is very affectionate and is going to be a large assertive dog of great beauty. Aqua is free to an excellent home who is willing to cover the cost of her operation (I will help as much as i can) AND she must be spayed. If anyone has any questions or wants to discuss further, please message me or say so in the comments and I will put you in touch. No time wasters please, must be genuine enquires. Georgiana 0211087655