Fake plastic trees for Taupō's waterfront?

After a successful trial run, in which a plastic replica tree planted on the waterfront went completely unnoticed by locals for several months, Taupō District Council is now considering a proposal to replace all living trees on the town’s lakefront reserve area with removable plastic trees developed by Weta Workshop in Wellington.

The proposal would see dozens of trees, some up to 50 years old, being removed and gradually replaced with synthetically produced life-size replicas, a first for New Zealand. The trees are being developed by Weta Workshop; the company responsible for the Oscar Award winning special effects in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

TDC approached Weta Workshop in Wellington six months ago, and since then have been working with them to create something special for the Great Lake Taupō lakefront.

Mayor Rick Cooper says the replica trees look so real it is hard to tell the difference between them and the real thing, even upon close inspection. “I’ve seen it up close, and I couldn’t tell it wasn’t real. I think Weta Workshop have done an absolutely amazing job with it.”

The 5.5m tall plastic prototype now sits somewhere on the Taupō waterfront, only hundreds of meters from the council offices, and is being used as a trial run for the initiative. But Council CEO Rob Williams is staying tight-lipped about which tree is actually the fake. “We decided to trial the idea to see if anyone would notice, and so far I have not had a single comment or complaint.”

The proposal to completely refurbish the lakefront with plastic trees comes only two months after the trial run was set up. Mr Williams is seeing the lack of concern as a positive indication to move forward. “I have asked staff to present a proposal to Council to replace all the living trees with replicas. I think it is foreseeable that the entire waterfront will eventually have plastic trees.”

Mr Williams says the proposal is in response to continued requests from local lakefront residents and hoteliers about trees blocking views, and problems caused by leaf fall. “These trees will never grow beyond the size they are made to. They will never need to be pruned, and all of the leaves should hopefully stay on the tree year round.” Mr Williams says the low maintenance cost of the trees will go a long way towards paying for them. “At almost $100,000 a pop, they are not cheap. But the long term value will come when we no longer have to put up with problems with tree maintenance.”

The trees will also be removable for events, meaning the entire reserve area can be completely cleared, an attribute that would be desirable in other reserves in the district, such as the Tongariro Domain.

Mayor Cooper says another advantage of the fake trees is being able to have any species in the world. “We can have any type of tree we like, such as pohutukawas which are more commonly associated with the coast, right through to 3000 year old kauri. Anything is possible, and we don’t have to wait for them to grow.”

Late last year several Taupō District Councillors were invited to Suzhou in China to help celebrate the city’s 50 years of sister-city relationships. The group attended the New Zealand Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo where a man-made pohutukawa tree, produced in New Zealand, was winning international acclaim. Mr Williams says photos of the tree were part of the inspiration for the idea for fake trees.

He says the replica trees would not be the first man-made elements to fit in with Taupō’s natural landscape, after the purchase of the Ora Garden for Taupō Museum. ‘Ora: The Garden of Well Being’ designed and built by Kim Jarrett, Lyonel Grant, Tina Hart, Doug Waugh, Trish Waugh and Brian Massey, won a coveted Gold Medal at the 2004 Chelsea Garden Show in the UK. It was later purchased by Taupō District Council and recreated for permanent display at Taupō Museum. The garden features some man-made elements, including a remake of the ‘Pink and White Terraces’, which was also created by Weta Workshop’s Richard Taylor.

Mayor Cooper also points out that the trees are completely washable, “which is a good thing in this country,” says Mayor Cooper, “as even the Mayors in New Zealand seem to like to urinate on trees.”