Seeing red over greenery | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

Volunteer fire fighters are threatening not to attend call outs in some Lyttelton streets this summer ? because overhanging trees are causing access problems and scratching paintwork on fire engines.

Fire chief Alan Goodmanson said lack of action by the Banks Peninsula District Council had forced him to threaten the drastic action.

"I contact the council every year but they don't seem to do anything about it," he said.

An attempt to resolve the problem was underway today at the Lyttelton/Mt Herbert community board meeting.

Goodmanson has asked the board to clear trees and vegetation.

He also confirmed that a ban on fire appliances going into Corsair Bay Domain was still in force.

The ban was put on the domain after fire appliances were struggling to get through without being damaged.

The Lyttelton fire brigade receive around 120 call outs a year and already this summer the appliances have received scratches, had mirrors broken and ladders have been caught up in trees because of the overhanging vegetation in some of Lyttelton's narrow streets.

Goodmanson believes it will take a tragedy before the problem is taken seriously.

"It will take someone having a house fire which we can't get to, and end up losing someone's house before anything is done," he said.

The chairwoman of the Lyttelton-Mt Herbert community board, Ann Jolliffe, said she realised there was a problem with overhanging trees in narrow streets and said she would be discussing the problem with Goodmanson.

"We are well aware trees and bushes are overhanging. We will get onto it," she said.

Lyttelton Harbour Residents Association chairman John Cleaver said the problem was really a question of enforcement by the council. He said this was the first he had heard about the fire brigade having a problem but said he was very concerned and supported the fire station in its request to get trees cut back.