We don’t want our posh area ruined by new homes – we like our area as it is without huge change

HOMEOWNERS in a leafy area fear a new housing development could have a damaging impact if it includes hacking down beloved trees.

Residents in a well-to-do Nottinghamshire district face plans for 10 new two-storey homes which they fear could ruin the views.

The proposals for the new properties on a hectare of land in Beeston, three miles south-west of Nottingham, have been handed in to Broxtowe borough council.

The scheme will also add garages, highways and drainage to the green space between a residential drive and Beeston Fields Golf Club.

And local residents proud of the lush trees surrounding their homes are seeking assurances they will not be felled by developers, even though the site does not fall within a conservation area.

And they say they could welcome the plans - just so long as the trees are kept in place and access is maintained, according to the .

David Polkey, a 64-year-old retiree who lives opposite the site, said neighbours were worried by rumours the trees could be lost.

Developers have insisted "the majority" will be kept.

Mr Polkey said: "I think the trees will be protected - we were relieved when they said they weren't going to cut the trees down."

His wife Sue, 60, said: "We've been living here 26 years. We're not as bothered if they keep the trees but we do have some concerns about access."

Another local resident insisted: "We do value the trees - we do want them maintained.

"If it's done sensibly, I can understand the logic of it."

Nick Tsioupra, a 28-year-old pilot, said: "I won't have a big problem if it's behind the trees - we like looking out on the trees.

"But I'm going to have a closer look at the plans now and see."

The planning proposal states: "The majority of the mature trees along Bramcote Drive will be retained and new shrubs and smaller trees will be planted along the boundary with Bramcote Drive."

Cutting down trees has proved a contentious issue across the country, with councils under pressure over whether to keep them up or not - and neighbours going to war over them too.

Chart-topping ex-Take That pop star Robbie Williams has been in a long-running dispute with council chiefs over his hopes of felling two trees at his £17m mansion in Kensington, west London.

He has finally been given permission to do so, but with strict conditions placed on improvements at the home which has previously put him in dispute with another famous neighbour - Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.

Elsewhere this week, a woman was left was left fuming after claiming her nightmare neighbour snuck into her garden to chop down a tree she didn't like.

Last month another dispute broke out when a woman was accused of cutting her own trees down and leaving her neighbour's garden exposed - only for him to come up with a way to restore his privacy.

A businessman who cut down historic trees outside the disused chapel where he lives in Leicestershire was left to pay a £2,500 price after neighbours complained and a court ruled he had done so without permission.

Other homeowners, however, have been left frustrated by trees remaining up rather than being cut down.

A West Yorkshire couple have been arguing with council planners blocking them from spending £5,000 of their own money to fell three 90ft sycamores hanging over their home.

And residents in Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire say they are living in darkness and have to spend £1,000 each year because their local council's trees block their windows.