A PLAN to protect Darlington's abundance of rare and unusual trees has been backed wholeheartedly by councillors.

A meeting of the borough council's environment scrutiny committee on Monday discussed a proposed five-year tree strategy drawn up by tree officer Mr Andy Elliot.

Mr Elliot said a survey had revealed that some of the mature tree cover in the town was under threat. A strategy for the effective future management of the tree stock was therefore essential.

He said: "By creating new woodland areas and protecting existing trees we can bequeath to future generations an amenity of immeasurable benefit and beauty."

Mr Elliot told the meeting that so far 50 trees out of 200 highlighted for high priority works by the highways department had been felled.

It was important, he added, to have a structured plan for replanting and new planting in the town to make sure many rare and unusual species were not lost forever.

He said: "There is no other town in the North-East that has such a good collection of rare trees."

Examples of this included two Wellingtonia giant redwood trees in the South Park and hundreds of different species planted in West cemetery during the Victorian era.

"Trees, and horticulture in general, were a big part of Victorian culture and evidence of this is all over the town," said Mr Elliot.

Coun Jim Ruck said group visits made by the environment committee to the South Park, West cemetery and Cockerton had brought this home.

He said: "Since we had these visits we now realise how many special trees we have in Darlington.

"We should market these special trees to schools and other groups to highlight them. A lot of them will not even know they are there and will not have had the opportunity to see them."

Mr Elliot said a "tree trail" leaflet was to be produced to guide people around the special and rare trees in the town.

"Many of these are tomorrow's veteran trees that will appear in books about the town," he added.

Coun Ruck asked if it would be possible to introduce a scheme for private groups to contribute to the upkeep of older trees in residential areas of Darlington.

He said a number of residents in Linden Avenue had suggested they would be prepared to pay a yearly fee towards maintaining mature trees in their area.

Mr Richard Alty, assistant director of development and regeneration, said: "I can see no reason why, in principle, the council would object to private funding in this way."

Mr Elliot added: "The more I get the immediate community involved the better, and the more effective my job will be."

The chairman of the environment scrutiny committee, Coun Stella Robson, said the committee backed the tree strategy wholeheartedly.

She added: "We are all very much behind it - I can't see how anybody could stand against it - and we are unanimous in recommending its implementation to the cabinet."