Residents of a leafy Angus street have made an 11th-hour plea to save a mature elm from the chop.
Montrose Day Care in Panmure Place is due to move to the Adam Centre in Warrack Terrace once it is built next year.
The former ambulance station site is now clear, bar one mature elm, thought to be around 150 years old.
Original plans for the centre to have a larger footprint, involving the tree’s removal, were opposed by a number of objectors before a compromise was reached this year.
But a delegated decision by council officers means the tree is back in line for “regrettable” felling.
Locals have asked the council to reconsider its decision, which was only relayed to residents by workmen.
Colin Baxter, a former tennis player and landscape consultant, joined community councillor Sandy Munro in asking Angus Council to hold back the axe.
Both said residents are happy to see the centre proceed along the lines of plans which have been in the public domain since March.
Mr Baxter said: “I’ve been here 44 years and when the plans went in for the new houses here, they kept the trees and changed the plans to suit, not the other way around.
“It’s more like you have to present a case for keeping trees rather than getting rid of them.”
Mr Munro said: “The mature elm tree was originally going to be avoided at every stage of the planning process.
“We’ve been told that the council under delegated powers has allowed a slight variation of the plans, which means that the tree is not going to be retained after all.
“Apparently the roots of the tree are going to be disruptive to the site, but I think this would have been obvious from the outset.
“A mature tree on the Mid Links is something to be admired and preserved at all costs. We’ve been kept completely in the dark about this.”
An Angus Council spokeswoman said yesterday: “It is regrettable that the tree is to be removed, but having considered the matter we are satisfied that its removal is necessary.”
The new centre recently benefited from manager Irene Mitchell’s poignant skydive in memory of Denis Mellor.
A frequent visitor to Panmure Place, Mr Mellor dreamed of flying through the air as an RAF driver and mechanic during National Service in the 1950s, and was set to realise his dreams in August while raising money for the Adam Centre.
However, the 83-year-old succumbed to melanoma before he could make the jump.
Ms Mitchell “did it for Denis” last month and the centre has raised more than £2,300 as a result.