Crawley councillors are to decide whether to give 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 said the trees were in poor condition and their roots had damaged the footpath alongside the Boulevard car park.
But members of the planning committee have been recommended to confirm the TPO at a meeting on Tuesday (October 1).
A report to the committee said that the notification from RCP Parking – known as a Section 211 Notice – was likely to be considered to be justified.
But it was important to the council that any trees removed should be replaced ‘to retain the tree cover and character of The Boulevard’.
Under the Section 211 Notice, RCP Parking would not be required to do so, hence the decision to impose the TPO.
Confirming the TPO would make 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.
The report said the trees could be seen in aerial shots of The Boulevard from the 1960s, so were ‘clearly part of the original vision for the town’.
It added: “The trees help to soften the hard developed edge of The Boulevard and, together with the other trees along The Boulevard and surrounding areas, provide an attractive green character to this route within the town centre.
“Crawley is a particularly verdant town with particular importance having been given to new tree planting during its original development and the more recent regeneration of Queens Square.”
