A MATURE copper beech 'of enormous value to Tavistock' is to be felled to make way for a luxury housing development.

The tree in the grounds of the old Carmelite Monastery in Watts Road has to go to provide a visibility splay on Launceston Road, members at Tuesday's borough planning meeting decided.

Cllr Dick Eberlie said the tree was 'particularly important' and could be seen from the far side of the town.

'It is a very beautiful, essential ingredient to the quality of life in the town. In my view, this tree is of enormous value to Tavistock and should remain.'

Cllr Caroline Keane said the three-and-a-half acre site should not be used for a 'luxury concept' but to provide housing for young people and first time buyers, preferably using the monastery itself.

'I think for the garden to be bulldozed over and the trees to be hacked out is monstrous,' she said.

Tavistock resident Roger Dobson suggested the entrance to the development should be moved, which would minimise tree loss.

'Once gone, these trees will be gone for ever and with them both a natural and historic corner of Tavistock,' he said.

Cllr Christine Grills said: 'Safety is the thing that matters. Much as I love trees I think safety has to take priority.'

Jeremy Cavanna, who is developing the site, told members he had had 'lengthy' meetings and discussions over the planning brief with officers.

He said his company had sourced a semi-mature beech from outside the country at some expense to replace the one due to be felled — he rejected an alternative entrance to the site as being 'catastrophically unsafe'.

Planning chief Stephen Gill reminded the committee the site already had outline consent and a planning brief which required a visibility splay to be constructed involving the loss of several trees.

'The only change is that there is one extra tree to be felled,' he said.

The 100-year-old monastery was finally demolished last week to make way for 15 new houses. It was used by a closed Carmelite order from 1922 until 1996, when the few remaining nuns moved away.