A plan to uproot trees on Ewing Street has been scrapped after public protests.

The Corporation of Hamilton revealed yesterday that it was backing down and would not remove a row of 50-year-old French oaks from a median in the road.

Mayor Graeme Outerbridge said the “council has unanimously listened on this particular issue”.

“The issue of the Ewing Street median has been a very emotional process, a process people have strong feelings on,” he added.

“The most important thing in a residential area is to listen to the people who live there. These trees are held in deep affection. The trees are staying.”

Donal Smith, deputy mayor and chair of the infrastructure committee, said the committee had made its decision to uproot the trees based on the recommendation of its technical experts.

“They advised us that the trees must be moved — we supported what they were saying because they’re the techs,” he added.

Mr Smith described the issue as a “milestone” lesson that the Corporation should listen more closely to residents.

“The general consensus is that these trees should stay. I believe in the democratic process of listening,” he said.

Hamilton Alderman Carlton Simmons blasted the way the issue was handled and criticised officials for not keeping him informed about their plans to remove the trees.

Mr Simmons, a resident of Ewing Street, was off the Island last week when his mother, Sherma, 61, acted as a human shield to prevent the oaks from being pulled up.

He said the matter should never have gotten to the stage where residents had to take to the streets and seek help from the courts — protesters sought an injunction from the Supreme Court to stop the trees being uprooted.

Mr Simmons promised a “full investigation and some heads will roll as a result of this”.

“It doesn’t take people to get out of their skin to be heard,” he said. “Ninety percent of the people on the council got votes from the very same people we were seeking to offend.

This will not happen again.”

Mr Simmons believes objectors such as himself were “given misinformation” about the Corporation’s plans.

“At the last minute information was presented that the department had agreed to get rid of the trees,” he said. “Some of this is about deception. I don’t know how the Corporation came to the position the residents wanted the trees to go.

“Not a single resident has said they want the trees to go. It seems like the techs had made their minds up.

“The mayor respectfully believes that process was legitimate but information is not accurate and clear.

“We have to look at our staff and say, ‘how is it we got this far?’ A lot of bad behaviour was shown.” The Mayor said this week that the Ewing Street project was unanimously approved by the elected council of the Corporation four months ago and that Mr Simmons would have received the minutes of this meeting and of another meeting last month, at which an alternative plan posed by residents was rejected.

Mr Simmons insisted yesterday that he was “kept deliberately in the dark” about the plans.

He said Corporation staff should have raised the issue with him directly rather than sent minutes by an e-mail.

“When they want to communicate they will say, ‘I’ve got something for you’. If you read every single e-mail you won’t stop reading,” he said.

Sherma Simmons said she was glad the trees had been saved but was “sorry I had to go through such a process to be heard”.

“I’ve a problem with a city that takes care of one group of people and refuses to take care of another — we pay our taxes, we don’t get heard.

“We’ve been fighting for not just trees but for other things, too.

“I want to thank you for allowing us to get our trees back, I don’t have to go to court now.”

Environmental group BEST also welcomed the decision to save the trees.

Founder Stuart Hayward said they were “very pleased for the neighbourhood, they fought hard and won”.

He said the “true value of a tree is $1.6 million in its lifetime” when you take into account the services it provides, such as providing oxygen, shade, shelter for wildlife, and so on.

“It’s about time trees were given due value for their services, not the least of which is shade,” he said. “We really need more green streets that are links between our parkland.”

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