Crawley councillors have given long-term protection to a number of trees on The Boulevard.
In April, the borough council placed a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) on one false acacia and three silver maples, after RCP Parking Ltd said it planned to fell them.
The company – which took over the Boulevard car park from NCP – said the trees were in poor condition and their roots had damaged the footpath alongside the car park as well as parts of the car park itself.
On Tuesday (October 1), a spokesman told members of the planning committee that this posed ‘a very significant health and safety risk’.
But chairman Steve Pritchard pointed out that the strip alongside the car park was ‘not used as a footpath’.
The Boulevard was well-named – a broad street lined with trees – but the committee was told that there had been ‘creeping erosion and loss of trees’ where some had been removed and not replaced over the years.
The TPO gives the council a bit more control over the situation.
Mr Pritchard said: “The fact that there are problems with the trees does not prevent the TPO being put into place.
“If a tree becomes unsafe then application can be made to remove the tree – but it gives us the power to enforce that the tree is replaced.”
As they sit on the highway, the trees actually belong to West Sussex County Council.
The committee was told: “The county council themselves still have powers as the highway undertaker to deal with issues relating to the trees.
“So if there is an imminent danger or a real problem they still have some control.
“We would not interfere with the county council ensuring that maybe a tree is not going to fall on someone’s head or something like that.”
The TPO was confirmed unanimously.
The confirmation makes it an offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, wilfully damage or wilfully destroy the trees without the council’s permission – and could lead to heavy fines.
