In the wake of what happened in South Street, city and county councillor Rob Hannaford is requesting that how trees are cared for in the city is added as an agenda item for the next meeting of the Exeter Board.
The tree that stood at the top of South Street and was encircled by a bench, a favourite place for people to sit, was chopped down on Wednesday night.
Cllr Hannaford said: "In my considered view, the current policy on the regulation and maintenance of trees in the city is not good enough for a built up urban environment and needs to be reviewed.
"At the moment unless a tree has a TPO or is in a conservation area it appears that they have little or no protection at all.
"I have several cases in St Thomas and Exwick where trees ( and in one case an orchard of rare apple trees ) have been felled without any proper control or regulation.
"Now we have the further outrage of the tree felling in South Street for the most spurious of reasons as part of the repaving / tarmacking exercise."
A Devon County Council spokesman said: "We have been re-laying the paving slabs on South Street which have moved, partly caused by the roots of two trees. The slabs from around both trees were carefully removed in order to undertake trial holes to see if the trees could be retained, without causing further damage to the new pavement or the trees.
"The roots of the tree outside the newsagent are at such a depth, any growth should not have a short term impact on the surface. Unfortunately the roots of the other tree, near the tactile paving slabs, were so shallow that they were damaged during the removal of the slabs before any investigatory work was carried out. As a result, the tree and seating have been removed. A replacement may be placed at a more appropriate location."
