Sligo County Council is considering putting in place its first tree preservation order to protect trees on an approach road to the village of Mullaghmore.
The move comes following the felling of some trees along the route last Saturday, which provoked anger in the local community. Local people say the trees are a vital visual amenity.
The broadleaf shelter-belt is part of the former Mountbatten estate and is owned by businessman Mr Hugh Tunney, onetime owner of Dublin's Gresham Hotel. He claims all trees felled to date were overhanging the public road and dangerous.
Earlier this week, an independent consultant was hired by the county council to survey the state of the trees. The consultant will report within one week and a decision will then be made, based on the report, on whether a tree preservation order should be put in place.
Mr Brendan Carolan, a council planning official, said the local authority would prefer to see "the integrity of the woodland retained intact", with felling operations confined to dead or dangerous trees. Such trees, once independently certified, should be felled on a phased basis, followed by immediate replanting, he said.
If a preservation order was granted and upheld on appeal, all subsequent tree felling would require planning permission, he said.
The Lord Mayor of Sligo, Mr Sean MacManus, described the felling of more than a dozen trees at the Classiebawn Estate last Saturday as "an act of environmental vandalism". He said efforts by him and local people had brought the "destruction" to a halt.
Mr Tunney said all trees felled to date were lawfully felled in accordance with the Forestry Act 1946 and the Roads Act 1993. He said in the opinion of a Coillte expert they were overhanging the road on a blind junction.
He added that he had written to the county manager and Mr Carolan expressing his sadness at the events of last Saturday when "a small mob" accompanied by the lord mayor "invaded" his property and stopped workmen from carrying out their lawful duties.
He called upon the local authority to certify all dangerous trees in Mullaghmore wood and give permission to fell them, or alternatively take full responsibility for them in the event of them causing an accident.
Ms Trudi Lomax, chairwoman of a local action group against the felling, acknowledged that Mr Tunney was not breaking the law but appealed to him to preserve the trees in the interests of the village's appearance. "There are more things in life than the absolute letter of the law. If he takes this away he will ruin the whole character of the village and a lot of people will be very, very angry," she said.