We are a grassroots community group fighting to stop the felling of nearly 300 exotic trees at our local Maunga.
Otahuhu, Auckland
Our community group is fighting to stop ratepayer-funded Tupuna Maunga Authority from reinstating a resource consent to fell nearly 300 trees at our local Maunga (volcanic cone) just because they're non-native. In 2023, local woman Shirley Waru crowd-funded a judicial review that cancelled the Authority's resource-consent but they are playing hard-ball and are appealing the decision. The Authority wants to rid Auckland's Maunga of all exotic trees so winning the court battle will help set a precedent for other Maunga.
Otahuhu has Auckland's lowest level of tree cover so we need every tree! We are ordinary everyday people who don't have deep pockets, so need your help to fight the appeal, which is being heard in the Court of Appeal in Wellington on 15 April.
In all we are hoping to raise $45000.00 to cover the costs.
Every dollar counts so please donate to help Shirley save these beautiful trees.
Previous page https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/savethetreesatmtrichmondotahuhu
Legal fees to fund a Court of Appeal claim initiated by Tupuna Maunga Authority, to overturn the High Court's decision which quashed the resource consent to fell 278 trees.
Any surplus funds donated will be used for a similar environmental cause.
Goal update 16 May 2026
Hi all, we are in a position to reduce our goal to $25,000 ! Please continue to share our givealittle link to help get us there.
A special thank you to the Honour the Maunga Owairaka/Mount Albert community and Anna Radford for your continued support and generosity you have given to our community of Otahuhu Respect Mount Richmond. You have supported through 2 litigation hearings in the High Court, and recently the Court of Appeal. Your friendship has been unwavering.
Ngaa mihi aroha ki a koutou, Naa Shirley Waru and the Respect Mount Richmond community.
Thank you so much Ed for your support and generosity. We are so close to reaching our goal now thanks to people like you. Ngaa mihi aroha ki a koe.
Thank you for your donation, we couldn’t have achieved this without people like you. We appreciate your support and generosity. Ngaa mihi aroha ki a koe.
Thank you Harry we appreciate your support and generosity! We stay positive and always treat TMA staff with respect and kindness, we hope that in the future they may treat us with the same respect and kindness in return. Ngaa mihinui ki a koe.
Good morning Janie, thank you for your very generous donation, the support and encouragement from people helping us to fund this litigation has been amazing! You touch on many of the points we have used ourselves since this all started, for us we have the lowest tree canopy in Auckland, we are a high density intensification area under the Unitary Plan, and have one of the highest mental health rates in Auckland. Our very learned young barrister used the word “wholesale” felling in our Court of Appeal submission recently heard. Thank goodness there are many of us trying to stop this from happening. Thank you for your tautoko to help us get there. Ngaa mihi aroha ki a koe, naa Shirley Waru and the Respect Mount Richmond Otahuhu community.
Good morning all, thank you for your very generous donation! The generosity and support from people who see the value and importance of public spaces to their respective communities is appreciated very much. Our community has the lowest tree canopy in Auckland and is also one of the lowest socioeconomic cohorts in South Auckland. We also appreciate you including the trees in your submission. Ngaa mihi aroha ki a koutou, naa Shirley Waru and the Respect Mount Richmond Otahuhu community.
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