The cypress tree in 1st Avenue outside Sharp Tudhope's new mini tower is to be felled, Tauranga City Councillors decided this week.

The 40-50 year old Italian Cypress is to be felled sometime in February.

The Italian Cypress in question.

Sharp Tudhope first sought permission to remove the tree in July 2011.

The law firm already removed a protected tree that used to grow on the site at the intersection of Devonport Road and 1st Avenue.

Resource consent was obtained in 2009 to fell the protected Golden Elm that formerly occupied the site.

The removal of the cypress tree was requested at the same time, but that issue was set aside for another date.

The cypress is a street tree and not protected by the Resource Management Act.

As compensation for the Golden Elm, Sharp Tudhope agreed to plant four deciduous trees around the building.

The landscape plan on the committee agenda shows the cypress being retained with landscaping to accommodate it.

Sharp Tudhope partners Alasdair Christie and John Gordon first approached the mayor in July 2011 seeking to fell the tree outside their building.

A meeting was held in August where the partners were told removing the cypress would not be consistent with the council's vegetation and tree management policy.

The partners offered to pay for the planting of trees in nearby streets to offset the loss of the cypress.

An agreement was reached to plant trees along 1st Avenue, which received a mixed response from 1st Avenue property owners and tenants.

'We don't like cutting trees down unnecessarily,” Alasdair told the committee.

'But what we have here is a large cypress tree that creates a lot of shading.

'It will have an impact both on us and on the other occupiers of the building who will be three other tenants.”

He added that keeping the cypress is inconsistent with the planting of the four katsura trees Sharp Tudhope is required to plant as part of its consent for chopping the protected Golden Elm.

'It just seems to us that having that cypress tree there is inconsistent with that planting plan, and we would really prefer to have a tree which is deciduous, which therefore provides shade in summer, but also in winter allows the sun to come through,” says Alasdair.

Speaking afterwards, arborist Richard Conning says the cypress is not yet fully grown.

'The Italian Cypress, they grow quite large, quite tall, but not a lot wider than it is currently. At full height it would be 30 metres easily.”

In speaking to his motion to fell the cypress, Murray Guy said the building and the contribution Sharp Tudhope and their associated partners have contributed to the community a thousand-fold more than 'Any old cypress on 1st Avenue”.

Committee chairman David Stewart agreed the cypress is not a good fit for the building and it needs to come out.

Negotiations over the possible planting of trees in 1st Avenue will continue.