But that's what has been happening at Cedar Bar & Kitchen, which has had some large limbs from a street tree out the front falling into its courtyard over the last few months.

The first came down during the huge storm that hit Bellingen on December 22, 2018.

"It came crashing down and broke our sign," restaurant owner Victoria Harper said. "And then we had two more drops of branches after that."

Then on Tuesday, there was a massive gust of wind at about 5pm and a branch about 12 metres long fell straight into the portico of the former church.

"I was walking up the alleyway with the green bin and I heard this crack and saw it start to fall," Victoria said. "So I ran back down the alley."

Fortunately the restaurant was closed at the time, so no patrons were sitting at the tables out the front, but a van parked next to the tree was damaged.

Victoria stressed that she and Paul want to keep the tree but they'd like it to be properly assessed, and in conjunction with the owners of the building have written to Bellingen Shire Council requesting that this be done urgently.

"We're in favour of keeping as much greenery as we can in Bellingen," she said. "We like the shade. They just need to trim it back, I think it's getting a bit risky now with some of those really long bits."

Victoria praised council staff for coming came straight away on Tuesday afternoon to chop up the branch and remove the debris.