• An Auckland property developer has been fined $8000 for removing trees from a neighbour’s Ponsonby home without their consent.

Stuart Property Trustees bought a section in Stuart St, Ponsonby, in 2015 for $1.4m and removed trees and a retaining wall to make way for a lap pool, against the wishes of neighbours David Stillaman and Heather Devere.

Stillaman arrived home one day to find nothing left, and his former backyard ‘sanctuary’ ruined.

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Tree

Map showing the location of 68 Summer St and 9 Stuart St in Ponsonby. The owners dispute where the boundary between the properties lies.