Work to remove the Laman Street figs has been completed. The design for the rehabilitation of the section of Laman Street between Dawson and Darby Streets, including an estimate and program for the work, is now available for public comment. Visit the public exhibtion page for all the details.

The new design is based on the Laman Street Civic Precinct Design Framework, which was developed with the community in 2010 and endorsed by the elected Council in July 2011.

Laman Street today

The stumps will remain in the ground until work to rehabilitate the road is undertaken. The investigation and mapping of the root system will be undertaken in conjunction with the construction phase, to minimise disruption within the precinct.

The library and gallery are open for business and there is now free two-hour parking on Laman Street directly opposite the art gallery and city library.

Significant Community Issues survey

A resolution was passed by Council requesting that the General Manager conduct a review of the communication and consultation processes for the Laman Street fig tree issue and provide recommendations for improving Council’s processes in the future.

Newcastle Voice online panel members and Councillors for The City of Newcastle were asked to provide their feedback to help us better meet the needs of the community and identify areas for improvement in the process Council adopts to manage key issues in the future.

Read the report of the  Laman Street Communication and Consultation Review (2.9MB pdf).

Background

The Laman Street Hills figs were planted in the early 1930’s as part of a program to plant thousands of various Figs throughout Newcastle.

Eighty years on we have about 1200 trees remaining of this program, 350 being Hills Figs

• Key documents relating to the trees in Laman Street
• Find out more about Hills Figs
• Find out more about the historical context of the trees in Laman Street
• Browse image galleries of the Laman Street figs

Managing the Hills Figs in road reserves

The Hills Figs that are growing in roads reserves and footways have experienced 80 years of management to address the needs of the built infrastructure such as kerbs, roads and buildings around them.

As a result the trees were subject to treatment that would not meet current standard practice. This included the annual cutting back (lopping) of canopy for electricity lines and to keep the trees at a manageable height as well as repeated cutting and wounding of their supporting roots.

The legacy of this management approach is that many of the trees are becoming increasingly unstable due to decaying and poorly developed root systems despite the fact that most trees stil appear green and healthy.

It has been common practice to replace trees with the same species (for example, planting a fig where a fig was lost) however when planting potentially very large growing trees such as Hills Fig in strees this approach conflicts with Council's risk management obligations and duty of care for public safety.

Find out more about Council's risk management approach.

It is imperative to provide adequate space below ground for new trees to establish a stable root system at maturity without compromising infrastructure and the stability of the existing trees. These requirements could not be met under the current constraints in Laman Street.

Council is not alone in this challenge of managing large mature tree plantsin such as Hills Figs in road reserves. Waverly City Council, City of Sydney, Centennial and Moore Park Trust and Leichardt Council are also grappling with their street tree renewal programs.

Find out more about the history of failures with Hill Street Figs.

Case book study whole tree failures

As was the practice of the day all Hills Figs in Newcastle streets were routinely lopped to form a stout short trunk with a multi-stemmed branch habit that could be kept neat and rounded. Lopping ceased in the late 1970’s and many of these Figs now exceed 22m in height and 30m width despite extreme root space limitations from buildings, pavement and utilities.

Newcastle City Council has collated an 11 year photographic record of tree failures to inform decisions regarding the useful life and relative safety of large mature trees in the public domain with specific application to the Hills Weeping Fig.

It is important that Council have regard for this case history in assessing risk and likelihood of failure. This information informs Councils management decisions in relation to the Laman Street Figs.

 Download the Case book Study on whole tree failure (15kb)

Reasons for removal

The June 2007 storm led to the the removal of four destabilised Hills Figs in the Laman Street precinct and greatly increased the exposure of remaining trees in the street. Subsequent investigations for the Art Gallery redevelopment project have alerted Council to a number of issues with the Laman Street trees. They include:

• increasing instability of remaining trees
• the absence of adequate structural support roots
• the need to construct large underground structures to accommodate the root spread of large avenue type plantings.

In order to resolve the future for the precinct Council has instigated a number of investigations to inform the community design process including:

• investigated and quantified the risk associated with the current trees
• development of abatement strategies for public safety
• determined underground utility locations
• further investigated root distribution by ground penetrating radar and visual inspection via trenching
• pictorial review
• reviewed tree replacement opportunities including benchmarking and
• heritage, cultural and social impact studies.

Council decisions

Council has been considering issues around the future of the Laman Street trees and the Laman Street Precinct for several years. Find out more about Council decisions regarding these issues.