Arborists brought down the manna gum, which was about 40m high and next to the Ainslie tennis courts, yesterday.

The Department of Territory and Municipal Services had deemed it dangerous after a large branch fell from the tree last month.

The department said the tree was rotted two-thirds of the way through and was a safety risk to people using the tennis courts and an adjacent intersection.

Debate erupted over the fate of the tree - and a similar gum earmarked for removal in the same park - earlier this month when the ACT's Sustainability and Environment Commissioner, Maxine Cooper, met 50 residents to discuss the issue.

Before the tree was felled, an RSPCA wildlife inspector removed several gang-gang cockatoos which were nesting in its branches. The Canberra Ornithology Group also believed a pair of little falcons nested in the tree.

Ainslie resident Katherine Beauchamp accused the ACT Government yesterday of poor decision-making, saying the tree was sound.

''This tree is being taken out because the commissioner walked by it one day, saw the fallen limb and rang TAMS, and TAMS made an on-the-spot, ill-informed decision to take it down and doesn't know how to back down, especially in the face of overwhelming opposition by residents,'' she said.

Ms Beauchamp has lodged a complaint about the tree's management.

The acting executive director of the department's land management and planning division, Bob Neill, said four arborists, including two departmental experts, independent arborist Geoff Butler and ABC weatherman and gardening expert Mark Carmody, had recommended the tree be removed.

The ACT Heritage Council was also consulted.

For more on this story, see today's Canberra Times.