A controversial housing scheme in Solihull has been given the go-ahead despite flooding fears and anger over 'Lord of the Rings' style destruction at the site.
Councillors lined-up to condemn the fact that trees had been cut down prior to the application being submitted for land in Birchy Leasowes Lane.
But despite their outrage, the planning committee accepted the developer had not breached planning laws and their previous actions could not weigh on their decision.
There had also been local concern about whether the development would add to existing drainage problems in the Dickens Heath area.
While there was some discussion about whether the five home proposal should be deferred, pending a council report into May's severe floods, the plans were eventually approved by a majority.
Earlier in the meeting, Cllr Ken Hawkins (Con, Blythe) had launched a searing attack on the "ecological destruction" residents had witnessed earlier this year.
"A chainsaw gang were on site well before the planning application destroying scores of mature trees, some about 100 years' old," he told the planning committee.
"It is very reasonable to claim that owls and other native birds had been nesting in March and April when the trees had been destroyed and set alight on a bonfire.
"The site resembled a scene [from] Lord of the Rings when the orcs destroyed the trees of Middle Earth ... You're talking mature trees, you're not talking about some flimsy saplings."
Cllr Robert Grinsell (Con, Olton) said: "I deplore the destruction of trees in advance of planning applications, in fact so much so that I have recently written to the minister of state regarding that very thing.
"However, the way things stand they have done nothing that has gone against planning rules."
Cllr Maggie Allen (Green, Shirley West) said: "I too feel that the chopping down of all of the trees was an absolutely abhorrent thing to do."
Gayle Collins, the planning consultant representing the applicant, noted that the trees were not covered by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) and new greenery would be planted as part of the scheme.
"The applicants were within their rights to remove them. Many of these trees were fruit trees and the garden was very overgrown ... The removed trees were of no particular merit."
She said that the application was "high-quality" and had been revised to take account of council officers' comments.
The other main bone of contention was whether the scheme would add to flooding issues, given the problems which engulfed the village earlier this year.
Some councillors had discussed whether the item should be deferred amid concerns that there wasn't enough evidence available on drainage, but officers argued there was sufficient information "to make a proper decision".
The committee was also warned that there was "a real risk" the developer could launch a successful appeal if the decision was not reached - taking the matter out of councillors' hands.
Cllr Allen said that some people in her own ward had lost everything in the flooding a few months ago and it was a cause for concern.
"We are caught in the horns of a dilemma really. Because on the one hand we lose control, but on the other hand we haven't really got the information that we need to make a sound choice here."
The committee eventually approved the scheme by a majority of six to three.
Following the decision, Dickens Heath parish councillor Trevor Eames took a swipe at members as he left the room.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he called out. "You were wrong before and you flooded dozens and dozens of houses. I think you are going to be wrong again."
