New seating will be installed temporarily in place of the two plane trees removed from the Octagon this week.
The 130 year old trees in the Octagon carriageway were removed for safety reasons by contractors on Monday and Tuesday nights.
Council parks recreation and aquatics group manager Mick Reece said the removal went well and there were some ''happy wood turners out there''.
It was not intended the trees be replaced with either small or specimen trees, as there were plans to look at the Octagon's design.
In the meantime, the focus was on keeping the remaining trees alive, and so far their health was improving, he said.
Council heritage policy planner Glen Hazelton said it was planned, in the interim, to add seating where the trees had been, as there had been calls for more seating on that side of the road since the stopping point for cruise ship buses was changed.
''We're going to experiment a little bit; see if there is more sunshine there, then if people use the area more.''
The future design of the Octagon was to be considered as part of a central city plan which had been put to the council for consideration as part of the long term plan, he said.
