Otago Cricket chief executive Ross Dykes will have mixed feelings when the row of poplars flanking the University Oval are eventually removed.
The Populus x candicans (Ontario poplars) along Logan Park Dr were scheduled for removal as part of the redevelopment of Logan Park. But when that project was deferred, so was the removal of the trees.
But the leafy giants have outstayed their welcome. Dykes told the council, in a submission at the annual planning hearings, the shadows they cast were causing disruptions to first-class games and could impact negatively on the scheduling of international fixtures.
The council has called for tenders for the removal of the trees. The irony is the venue has just been named in The Cricketer, as one of the best settings in the world from which to watch test cricket.
Part of what makes the University Oval such an idyllic setting is the wonderful feeling of escaping to a village green somewhere outside the city, when in reality it is 15min walk from its commercial heart. The trees hide the truth and they will be missed.
"Very much so," Dykes responded when asked if he had mixed emotions.
"But I think it is balanced by the fact that when the University Oval was developed, trees were planted around the perimeter of the ground. Some of those bushes, shrubs and trees are now growing quite nicely.
"When the trees come down ... it will open up a bit of north Dunedin but there will still be decent sized trees and shrubs just beyond the boundary and on the fence line.
"They are not the same but I don't think we will lose a lot in terms of the aesthetic beauty of the University Oval."
Dykes said some trees along Logan Park Dr had become a hazard due to falling branches.
Most importantly, once removed their shadows will not stop play on a bright sunny day in March, as they did earlier this year when Otago was robbed of an almost certain victory against Canterbury.
Otago Cricket hopes to attract one of the three tests against England next summer and the sooner the threat of those shadows is removed, the better.
