Parish councillors want to restore the Lawns Park tree-lined avenue to its 'former glory' - but fear it could cost £2k per tree

They want to replace the existing string of 30 waist-height trees at the High Street entrance to Lawns Park with something more befitting its historic status.

Following the Dutch Elm disease – which wiped out thousands of British trees in the 1970s – trees along the avenue have struggled to grow up, councillors said.

South Swindon parish councillors, who recently met with borough council tree experts to discuss the avenue, said that restoring the avenue to its earlier glory could mean planting more mature trees.

But it won’t come cheap, with one parish councillor telling a meeting of South Swindon’s leisure committee last week: “It could mean £2,000 a tree.”

Coun Nadine Watts, who was among those who met with Swindon Borough Council officer Russell Weymouth, said it was “generally agreed” that the avenue “definitely needs improvement”.

“It looks really sad,” she said. “There have been a couple of different tree types tried over the years and it seems that there has been some disease. So, one of the first things that Russell suggested was doing a soil survey.”

Coun Watts suggested that funding might be available for new trees that “could maybe help restore its former glory”. She added: “When you see the old black and white photos it was stunning. It was a proper avenue.”

The parish clerk has asked the borough for the likely cost of a range of improvements along the avenue, including more substantial trees, repairs to the stone walls and new seating along the avenue.