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Auckland Council is reminding arborists and environmental professionals to know the rules before starting work, after an east Auckland tree company was fined nearly $30,000 for unlawfully cutting a protected tōtara in Mt Eden.
DS Trees Limited was sentenced in the Auckland District Court last week after pleading guilty to one charge under the Resource Management Act (RMA) for carrying out unconsented work on a notable tree.
The tōtara, located on a residential property, was left misshapen after three large branches were removed without approval. The company claimed the breach, committed in May 2024, was the result of an “administrative error.”
Judge Tepania said the offending showed “high culpability,” noting that a professional arborist “should have known better than to proceed without confirming the tree’s protected status.”
The court imposed a starting fine of $45,000, reduced to $29,250 for an early guilty plea, cooperation, and remedial action.
The sentencing comes soon after major RMA amendments took effect this month, lifting maximum fines to $10 million for companies and banning insurance coverage for environmental penalties.
Auckland Council investigations team leader Paul Cowling said the decision sends a clear warning. “Arborists are expected to know and follow the rules,” he said.
“If you breach them, you’ll pay the fine yourself, that’s exactly what Parliament intended.”
He said professional accountability is crucial to protecting Auckland’s “living heritage.”
“These rules exist to safeguard trees that form part of our urban forest. When qualified arborists disregard them, it undermines public trust and the protection system as a whole,” Cowling said.
