THE oak tree at the Eye of York, which was lit up as a new interactive visitor attraction at Christmas, looks set to be saved under council plans to revamp the area.

As part of the wider proposals by City of York Council to replace Castle Car Park, and overhaul the area around the Eye of York public feedback was strongly in favour of retaining the existing oak tree, and this option will now be developed in detail as part of the planning application to be submitted in the autumn.

This decision is based on the public engagement that was carried out during August and feedback collected from social media responses and online comments. Four design options for the Eye of York space were presented to the public. Two of the design options that were presented retained the existing oak tree, whilst the two other options imagined the space without the existing tree.

The strong preference was to base the design of the space around the oak tree. Those who wanted to keep the tree, have highlighted a number of reasons which have been captured in an updated My Castle Gateway blog.

City of York Council say the designers (BDP) will now concentrate on a design which includes retaining the central oak tree.

Councillor Nigel Ayre, Executive Member for Finance and Performance, said: “The My Castle Gateway public engagement has already led to exciting plans being put forward to transform the whole area. We have always been fully committed to putting the views of local residents at the heart of shaping these future plans. Having listened to the views of everyone who took part in the consultation, the designs for the Eye of York will focus on retaining and celebrating the existing oak tree.

“Feedback from local communities is important in helping to shape this new, world-class public space for York. Designs for the Castle and Eye of York will be refined further and the finalised design will form part of a planning application for the My Castle Gateway scheme. The planning application will be submitted later this year.”

The oak tree was planted in 1981 and according to the project team, it was unpopular at first because it was a rather small sapling.

But during the past 40 years it has grown to become a mature oak tree and at Christmas it became a visitor attraction when York BID wrapped 1km of interactive festive lights around it - making it the first installation of its kind in the UK.

The lights could be controlled through visitors’ smartphones and the colour or effect could be changed.

The attraction was dubbed ‘The Magical Tree of Light’.