Residents' fury over Coles plan to cut down 140-year-old cork tree for underground carpark at Norwood Norwood residents at the cork tree, which Coles wants to remove to make room for an underground carpark. A CORK tree believed to have arrived on a ship from Portugal in the 1800s stands in the way of Coles building an underground carpark at Norwood. Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Council will consider an application for it to be cut down but ratepayers have formed an action group and will ask the State Government to intervene. They say the tree is number 34 on the National Trust of Australia's significant trees register. Former ABC radio identity Carole Whitelock and former Labor Member for Norwood Greg Crafter are among those leading the charge. Ms Whitelock said it would be "sheer vandalism" to swap the tree for carparking spaces. "It is a beautiful and dignified part of our cultural and botanical heritage," she said. We've lost so many significant trees in the past; let's not make the same mistake again and earn the scorn of future generations. Horticulturalist Michael Keelan inspected the tree last week and said it was "a beauty." "That particular one is pretty exceptional," he said. It's obviously very happy where it is but they are a tree that has a 90 per cent success rate at being transplanted. Move it to a park and it can live another hundred years. Mr Keelan also said it would be possible to build a large concrete "tank" around its roots and leave it in place. National Trust of Australia records say the tree was planted by the former Kensington and Norwood Council but others dispute the claim. Clyde Buttery, 76, said his great-grandfather Henry Buttery brought the tree from Portugal when he travelled from England to South Australia in 1870. "My great-grandmother was pregnant at the time and apparently he gave that tree more attention than her," he said. It's part of the history of Norwood and it's part of my family history - once it's gone, it's gone. The Butterys were a prominent furniture-making family. It is believed Henry planted the tree in the backyard of his Edward St home, at Norwood, when he bought the property in about 1892. Norwood Residents Group president Jim Dunk said the cork tree represented an important part of the area's heritage. "Cork trees in other parts of Australia, such as Tenterfield in NSW and Caulfield in Victoria, have been retained and made a feature of the area," he said. He suggested Coles incorporate the tree into its design plan, similar to the river red gum at Burnside Village. However, 12 months after the completion of the village, that gum tree started to show signs of distress and was cut down in August last year. Coles SA property manager Hamish Brown said advice from arborists and the council was that the cork tree needed to be removed to start the underground carpark. He said new trees, garden beds, green walls and keeping some significant trees had been put into the design plan.