Napier’s liquidambar trees ready to fall in Dalton St

The days are numbered for one of Napier’s best-known liquidambar styraciflua, aka, the trees uprooting Dalton St in the central city.

The Napier City Council has assessed that the tree, on the laneway beside the kerb outside Urban Wellness Space, in the century-old CD Cox Building between Emerson and Dickens streets, has been assessed and will be removed “soon”, along with another across the road outside the old Central Hotel building.

As with many trees, the Dalton St trees, also known as American Sweet Gum, or “gumball”, have their fans, but council staff say they need to go so that the road and footpaths, can be “fixed”.

The lifting of the pavement around one of the trees is causing difficulties for parking, and pedestrians. Photo / Paul Taylor

On both sides of the road, barely 40 metres from Emerson St, the paving on the road has lifted, on the eastern side as much as 15-20cm, to the point of rendering one parking space a risk to lowly-profiled cars, and at times almost unparkable.

The footpath has also lifted slightly as far as the about 10-metre stretch of the roots, but it’s enough to create an obstacle over which some people trip, says shop proprietor Wendy Nowell-Usticke, who will, nevertheless, be sad to see the trees go.

She lives in an apartment above the shop and loves the view, waking up in the mornings and watching the seasons pass by right outside the window throughout the year.

Emerson St is up for a redesign, with recent public consultation ahead of work to start in the New Year.

It is understood there is as yet no timeline for the removal of the trees, among hundreds of ageing trees on Napier’s roadsides, and in other communities in Hawke’s Bay, but council staff said options on where to place better-suited trees are being looked at, while new planters will be installed with new trees in them.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 50 years of journalism experience in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.