The latest plans by builders to tear down a landmark Penryn tree to make way for more car parking at a new housing site have been refused planning permission.

WJ Ladd builders, which is currently building several new homes at Vinery Meadow in Penryn, had applied several times to remove the protected Monterey pine which stands at the centre of the development site, and which the company said was a hazard to workers and residents. Having failed to have a protection order lifted, last year the company carried out work to remove several large limbs from the pine, which Cornwall Council later confirmed had been permitted under a 'five day notice.'

In July the company submitted a new planning application, requesting permission to increase the number of parking spaces at the site from ten residential and two guest spots to 14 residential and four guest spaces, using what it termed "derelict ground."

Included further down in the application was a design and access statement which said: "The revised parking layout as described above is dependant on the removal of the Monterey pine tree that is present on the site."

It also noted: "The tree in question has compromised the development from the beginning."

In his notice of refusal of planning permission, planning officer Phil Mason wrote: "The Monterey Pine tree, for which consent is sought to remove, has a significant level of public visual amenity value and so positively contributes to both the character and landscape of the area.

"It makes an important individual contribution to the area and is visible from large parts of Penryn. The proposed

removal of this tree would have a significant detrimental impact on the public amenity of the area."