Potential issues with tree removals following severe weather in the south have been highlighted in a new report.

In November, arboriculture consultancy Paper Street Tree Company expressed concern about how a section of Invercargill's Otepuni Gardens had been managed following the October storm.

Company founder Richie Hill wrote in his report there had been “significant ground disturbance” there, plus a torn root from machinery.

“Evidence is apparent throughout the site that the focus of tree removal has overtaken any consideration for long-term impacts on retained trees.”

The council needed to be able to show difficult choices were being made with a retention-first approach, Hill said.

He warned that "overzealous” tree removal would be harder to defend if adequate controls were not in place.

Hill also took issue with how some work had been carried out on the tree canopy in the gardens, saying it had left poor structural outcomes and load transfer issues.

On Tuesday, an Invercargill City Council committee will receive Mr Hill's report and meet to discuss reserve areas with large trees near the Otepuni Gardens at the intersections of Elles Rd and Tay St, and Queens Drive and Don St.

One option put forward is to remove all the trees at those sites and replant.

Hill told Local Democracy Reporting replanting had the potential to be a better outcome if there was a robust planting plan or vision.

"But with anything, you need to do that sort of decision analysis . . . to see whether that cost outweigh the benefits."

In a previous report from 2024, Hill said a section of trees opposite Mitre 10 on Elles Rd — the Elles Rd and Tay St site — were in “very good health”.

His new report acknowledged some tree failures were unpredictable. It also noted the perceived risk of trees was often much higher than the actual risk of harm.

The upcoming decision for council aims to address public safety concerns given the proximity of the trees to key roads.

The council is exploring two options for responding to that risk — remove and replant at the Don St and Tay St sites to the tune of $500,000; or activate emergency controls such as road closures in the event of weather warnings.

There had been "several significant tree failures" in the city area over the past seven years, but none had led to a fatality, the council report noted.

An increase to the frequency and severity of storms was a contributing factor, consistent with climate change projections, it said.

The council was approached for comment but did not wish to do so ahead of Tuesday's meeting.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air