Tree roots pushing up through the ground are causing damage to the surface of a children's play area.

That is one of the reasons why the trustees of the East Malling Centre in Chapman Way are applying for permission to do some extensive tree work.

The centre has more than 50 trees in its grounds, some of which are protected by a tree preservation order, and all of which fall within the Clare Park and Blacklands Conservation Area, where notice has to be given of any intention to fell trees with trunks above 7.5cm in diameter.

After a survey by an arboriculturist, the centre is seeking to fell a birch and maple tree, pollard an ash and maple, reduce the height of two lime trees and one ash by 4m and by 1m in lateral spread, remove another ash and poison the stump, and reduce a birch by 3m and 1m in spread.

Work is also planned to reduce the height of a further sycamore, hazel, three cherry trees, lime and maple, and to remove a dead ash tree.

Further work will be undertaken to strip ivy from a scots pine, two sycamores, a spruce and two ash trees, while three dead thula conifer trees will be removed.

Ivy will also be removed from a woodland grouping of sycamore, hawthorn, ash, aspen, lime, sweet chestnut, field maple, oak, damson, cherry, horse chestnut, larch and maple, while a dead ash will be monolithed at 6m tall.

Finally small saplings from a grouping of ash, sycamore and hawthorn will be cleared - permission is not needed for this aspect of the work.

Details can be found on Tonbridge and Malling council website here, under application number 23/00298.

The work will not be carried out all at once, but spread out over the next couple of years, but with the trees damaging the playground as a priority.

The East Malling centre lies adjacent to the St James the Great Academy and provides a community supermarket, lunch clubs, free after school and holiday activities for children, a community cafe and is home a variety of clubs and groups such as the Brownies, and karate and yoga clubs.