A MAJOR operation to remove one of the Tavistock?s most prominent and historic trees will take place on Sunday in Plymouth Road. The huge copper beech, believed to be more than 200 years old, has a disease which means it could fall down at any time. Tree surgeons have been left with little choice but to fell the specimen ? but admitted this week it was a ?tragedy? that it has to go. Traffic lights will be in operation and a crane will be at the site while Tavistock tree surgeon Paul Greenhill and his team do the work. Permission had to be sought from West Devon Borough Council to remove the 30 tonne, 75t high beech tree, as it is covered by a tree preservation order. Owner Bridget Endacott, who has lived with the tree at the front of her garden for 12 years, said she and many people in Tavistock would be very sad to see it go. ?In the summer it attracts a lot of comments when people see it in its glorious splendour,? she said. ?We hear owls in the tree at night and there are a couple of pigeons who have lived in it for years. ?It is a lovely tree and it will make a great difference when it is gone, but it cannot remain with the terrible fungus it has got.? Mr Greenhill said the disease Meripilus giganteus, or giant polypore as it is more commonly known, caused the roots to decay. Mr Greenhill said: ?It is the worst case I have seen and the only thing that is keeping the tree there is the weight of it pushing it down ? there is very little adhesion between the roots and the soil. ?I will not get any pleasure in cutting a tree like this down ? I am as disappointed as anyone, but the consequence of this coming down in an uncontrolled manner is horrific. ?It would bring the town to a standstill.? Tree consultant Mike Woolley said this tree was one of the last copper beech trees in Tavistock left from the original planting in the Bedford era. He said: ?It is a tragedy really, but it could go at any time and unfortunately there is no way around it.? Another tree will be planted in place of the old specimen.
