Trees and power lines in Matamata
Matamata is its own town, part of Matamata-Piako District with Morrinsville and Te Aroha, and Waikato Regional Council covers the wider region. The town's postcode is 3400, in the district's Matamata General Ward. ENA's network map data puts it on Powerco's network, not WEL Networks', which serves Hamilton.
Matamata-Piako District Council's website wouldn't open for us, so we're not stating its District Plan tree rules. Across New Zealand, district plans protect particular trees, and work on a protected one needs a resource consent; existing plans keep applying while the new planning law beds in. Ring the council about your address before any big tree comes out, and see tree removal permits for what to ask.
Arborists in Matamata: what's local
Dairy and horses
By 1904 the Crown had obtained Josiah Firth's estate and cut it into dairy farm units, and the town became a borough in 1935. It's still farming country, known for Thoroughbred breeding and training, so plenty of tree jobs sit on a boundary with stock on the other side.
Under the Kaimai
The town sits near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, with an average 1,071.1 mm of rain a year, most of it in winter. Waterlogged ground matters: radiata pine can get root rot when the soil stays saturated.
In town
Around 9,540 people live in Matamata. In town, the jobs shift to garden trees that have grown close to houses, sheds and the lines along the street.
Common trees in Matamata
Macrocarpa has been planted widely in New Zealand for shelter. It shrugs off strong wind, yet the NZ Farm Forestry Association says it's prone to toppling on some sites. Fast-grown radiata pine on fertile ground can carry heavy branches that break, and few roots, so a whole tree can blow over.
Cypresses can cause abortion in pregnant cattle, so the Association advises keeping them well back from fence lines where cattle graze next door. Talk to the neighbouring farmer before a boundary belt is trimmed or felled, and agree where the foliage goes. Macrocarpa doesn't regrow from the stump and its roots rot slowly, so ask whether the stump is to be ground. Macrocarpa and land clearing go further.
Tree jobs you can do yourself in Matamata
You can
- Walk the belt after a big blow and note broken tops, leaning trees and gaps.
- Prune small branches you can reach from the ground with hand tools, well clear of any line.
- Keep stock away from cut cypress branches and foliage.
- Photograph anything growing toward a line and report it to Powerco.
Leave to an arborist
- Felling, topping or heavy reduction of a macrocarpa or pine belt.
- Anything within 4 m of a power line, which is for Powerco's approved contractors only.
- Trees leaning over a road, a shed or the neighbour's paddock.
- Grinding out stumps once a belt has come down.
Tree on a Powerco line
Call 111 if anyone is in danger. For a tree on a line or any electricity emergency, call Powerco. Don't try the work yourself: Powerco says people can be prosecuted for attempting work within 4m of its lines.
Hiring an arborist in Matamata
We'd ring Matamata-Piako District Council first, since we couldn't check its rules for you. Then we'd sort the lines: anything near a Powerco line waits for its contractors. On a farm boundary, we'd agree the plan with the neighbour before an arborist quotes, so the foliage and the fence are dealt with.