My Dad lives close to the town, so he gave me a first hand account of what was going on, these particular trees are originally part of a windbreak put in by a local farmer, and they are pinus radiata. Its only because they are building the water fluoridation plant in that spot, that they decided the trees had to go. If they hadn't chosen that spot for the water treatment plant, nobody would have been at risk from the trees, apart from the odd passing cow. It does mean that they will not be able to self seed and become more of a weed than they already are. I just hope the fluoridation plant goes the same way as the trees.
There is a lot of protests happening in the area, so lets hope for a good outcome.