Is this newel post structural?

[jgodwin]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of taking out the bannisters in my loft conversion and replacing with a partition wall. I'm going to run the frame all the way along where the existing bannister was, but in order to do so, I will need to cut down this newel post:

Can I be sure that post isn't what's connecting the staircase to the floor on that side?

Here is the other side:

It's resting on this bit of 2x4:

Any advice would be appreciated. Ideally, I'll cut it flush to the wooden floor, remove the bannister plate at the bottom and then lay my sole plate for the wall directly over

Thanks!

 

[blup]

Joists will have been trimmed for the opening so it probably forms part of that structure, however the part protruding can presumably be sawn off.

 

[DAZB]

You are ok to remove anything above the floor level as the structural fixings holding the staircase will be into the floor joists.

 

[jgodwin]

Thanks guys, appreciate the responses. I cut them down after reading your posts and discovered that you could pretty much wiggle them free, so you were completely correct. I'd been worrying about this job for weeks haha

Thanks again!