A bid to remove protection for a tree so it can be chopped down in Caversham has been rejected.

A landownership company called  Danala Services had applied to remove a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) for a poplar tree in Christchurch Meadows.

Danala Services acquired a strip of land that includes roadside billboards at the junction of Gosbrook Road and George Street and a number of trees.

Four poplar trees have already been felled after one tree fell into a ‘dead or dangerous’ category and three more were cut down due to their poor condition.

Alan Craddock working on behalf of Danala Services had submitted an objection to a TPO for a remaining poplar, arguing allowing the tree to stand would be ‘dangerous’ due to the apparent decay of the tree.

However, the attempt to remove the TPO to allow the tree to be cut down was rejected by Reading Borough Council’s planning committee.

Councillor Richard Davies (Labour, Thames), a new member of the planning committee said: “It’s one tree, but every tree is really important in our climate emergency context that we have.

“When we agree to remove a tree it would really need to be backed up by evidence that it needs to be removed and shouldn’t be preserved.

“It certainly hasn’t reached the threshold that we should not place a TPO on.”

He also expressed hopes that four trees that have been cut down will be replaced.

The bid to have the tree cut down was opposed by Sarah Hanson, the council’s natural environment officer, who recommended that the TPO be confirmed.

The TPO was confirmed unanimously by the planning committee on Wednesday, May 31.