Aldermen yesterday voted to allow West Launceston resident Wolfgang Lorenz to have the mature white gum removed.

The house, which Mr Lorenz and his wife bought 12 months ago, is built in two sections connected by a walkway. The gum tree is growing beside the walkway.

The couple had to apply to the council for permission to remove the tree because it is located within a scenic protection area on the West Launceston hillside.

Council officers advised that the tree was healthy and contributed to the scenic values of the area.

But Mr Lorenz wrote to the council asking officers to imagine how he felt on a stormy night with a 35-metre tree towering immediately above his bedroom.

The 71-year-old said that in the year since he and his wife had bought the house, he had cleared the roof and gutters four times.

Alderman Robin McKendrick, who put the motion for the tree to go, said that it was a unique situation.

"It's a lovely tree but it's dangerous," he said.

"The house is in two sections joined by a passageway and in the middle of the two sections is this tree ... I would probably put the potential of ruining a home and maybe a life above a tree."

Alderman Ian Norton agreed. He said that he loved trees but he lived on a bush block where he had learnt that it was commonsense not to have trees in close proximity to the house for both fire and general safety reasons.