Last month we posted this article on the GWRC chopping down over 50 mature poplar trees between the edge of the grassed area and the riverbank. (We’re not actually sure why GWRC consider it their territory rather than KCDC’s.)

Well, they have now produced this lavish propaganda piece on their website to appease Waikanae people like us unhappy with their “chop down all non-native trees introduced by Europeans” ideology headed as Ko Tōku Waikanaetanga Tēnei: Edgewater Park Planting Day 2025

The dual language heading depicts the theme of the text. “30 years ago, the whole area had mostly been gorse, blackberry, and concrete. Thanks to the hard mahi of community and iwi over that time, and more recently the joint efforts of the Waikanae Ki Uta Ki Taiopen partnership, there is barely a weed to be seen and native plants everywhere.”

Hmm. Now, planting trees, native or not to cover bare areas of ground, mostly grassy, when trees or even just shrubbery will be more pleasant is good, but we have an issue with chopping down attractive healthy stands of exotics for ideology alone.

The explanation in the article for the poplar tree massacre — “A few months ago, some poplar trees along the bank of the Waikanae Awa had to be removed. They were dropping branches into the popular Edgewater Park, making them a hazard” — just rings hollow.