Giant 200-year-old tree chopped down 'by mistake'

A giant redwood tree at Penllergaer Valley Woods has been mistakenly chopped down as part of work on a housing development.

The tree, thought to be around 200 years old, was reduced to just a stump leaving local residents "absolutely devastated".

Enzo Sauro, the boss of developer Enzo's Homes which is building 80 new homes at the site, said the redwood had been cut down mistakenly as it “was not marked up correctly”.

He added that it would be replaced with "a mature replica tree".

But Rebekah Owen, from the local area, said she "couldn't believe" what had happened.

Miss Owen, aged 31, said: "I've got two children and a dog and we used the passway by the tree to cut through into the woods.

"My 10-year-old daughter has learning disabilities and she called the tree 'our tree' and used it as her base as it used to stand tall by our house."

A Parc Penllergaer resident, who did not want to be named, said the community had been 'absolutely devastated' by the loss of the redwood.

"It's very sad. The ambience that the tree created was incredible".

The giant redwood had a tree preservation order, and Swansea Council is looking into the matter.

A council spokesman said: “No decisions have been made yet in terms of any possible enforcement action.”