Sycamore Grove

Sycamore Grove is located at the end of Ballance Street in lower Vogeltown. It was once a very short road with another name.

On 16 May 1983 the New Plymouth City Council approved an application by the developer of a new subdivision to replace the name Poti Street with Sycamore Grove. The new name was not their first choice. Carrington Glen was the name suggested, with Cresswell Grove and Sycamore Grove as alternatives.

The city engineer, in a letter to the Town Clerk, suggested that Carrington Glen could cause confusion with nearby Carrington Street. Cresswell Gove was acceptable as it celebrated one of the immigrant ships to New Plymouth.   

There is no explanation as to why Sycamore Gove was finally chosen, or why the developers were not satisfied with using the existing name. The city engineer noted at the time that “Poti appears to have no historical significance and the change would only affect one property.”

So why was it named Poti Street in the first place? The name stretches as far back as the 1930s but there are no records indicating why it was chosen. A map of New Plymouth, dated 1909, shows the name attached to a small stream and swamp in the vicinity of Leach Street, this is the only connection we can find.

The Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) is a deciduous tree with smooth grey bark and can grow to a height of 35 metres. Perhaps the most well-known specimen is the ‘Tolepuddle Martyrs’ Tree’ in Dorset, under which it is said six agricultural labourers formed an early trade union. The tree is thought to date from 1680 and is now cared for by the National Trust.

A new subdivision, Sycamore Estate, is in progress and the road now leads down into the Huatoki Valley.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.