Elmira Ave residents may be a bit late to save their "garden suburb" after being shocked to find another old home being taken away.

The Hokowhitu street in Palmerston North was deemed a special cultural area in 1929, but residents have become upset after subdivisions have been created and new houses have been built outside the character of the rest of the street.

Residents were also concerned with the state of the trees on the street, but the moving company managed to get the house out, damaging just one tree.

Resident Kay Batey said although she knew the house was on the market and had been sold,no-one on the street knew the removal was happening on Thursday morning.

She said she found out upon returning from her morning walk.

"I just noticed it had been sold. We should have been warned."

She said she had spoken with some workers at the site earlier, who told her it would be moved next week.

"If I didn't get home when I did, they would have sliced and spliced all the trees," Batey said.

Sue Forde, who lives across the road from the house, said she was concerned about the state of the special cultural area.

"What concerns me is that this is supposed to be a heritage street.

"They caught us completely off-guard."

Houses being removed from the street had happened previously and it concerned the residents.

But she said she believed that it was an important part of the city's heritage, so the street should be preserved.

"This is just going to compromise the integrity of the heritage. They just continue to destroy it."

The special cultural area is not bound to any rules, like the Savage Cres Heritage Zone, but has design guidelines for those building or renovating homes.

Palmerston North City Council is reviewing the area in a sectional District Plan review, which is now open for public comment.

Policy planner Matthew Mackay said features like brick fences and houses being built at the back of the section were part of the "garden suburb" aesthetic.

"At council we've got some design guidelines for those people on those streets, but the area doesn't have any formal District Plan protection in terms of that character."

The public comment phase ends November 19.