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Tree preservation orders
A tree preservation order makes it a criminal offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot or wilfully damage a tree without the council's written consent. Fines are unlimited in serious cases. Here is what that means in practice.
A TPO can cover a single tree, a group, an area, or an entire woodland. Once one is in place you need written consent from the local planning authority before any work — including pruning. Reducing a crown without consent is an offence in exactly the same way that felling is.
Penalties are real. Cases involving the destruction of a protected tree can carry unlimited fines, and courts take account of any financial gain from the works, which is why removing a protected tree to improve a development plot is treated severely.
TPOs are held by the local planning authority. Many now publish an online map; others require a written enquiry, and some charge for a formal search. Conservation area status is separate and usually shown on the same mapping.
Do not rely on a seller, a neighbour or an estate agent for this. Check with the authority, and keep the written answer.
We check TPO and conservation area status as standard on every site we survey, and it is included in the price.
Consent is applied for on a standard form, with a plan identifying the trees and a clear specification of the works — expressed in proper arboricultural terms, not 'cut it back a bit'. Authorities normally have eight weeks to decide.
Applications succeed on justification. 'It blocks the light' rarely carries; a documented structural defect, a demonstrable safety risk, or a reduction specified to a recognised standard usually does. A supporting arboricultural report is frequently the difference.
Trees in a conservation area that are not already covered by a TPO have their own protection. You must give the authority six weeks' written notice before carrying out work, during which they can make a TPO to prevent it.
The six-week notice is not permission — it is notice. Doing the work inside that window is an offence.
There are narrow exemptions: dead trees, and trees presenting an immediate risk of serious harm. Both are frequently misunderstood and misapplied.
'Dangerous' has a specific meaning and it is not 'looks unwell'. If you fell a protected tree under the exemption you must be able to evidence the danger, and you are normally still required to notify the authority and to plant a replacement. Photograph everything before work starts, and get an arboricultural opinion in writing first if there is any doubt at all.
Ask your local planning authority. Many publish an online TPO map; where they don't, a written enquiry works and is often free. Always keep the response.
Not without written consent. Pruning, topping and lopping are all covered by a TPO in the same way felling is.
There is an exemption for trees presenting an immediate risk of serious harm, but the burden of proof sits with you. Get a written arboricultural assessment first, photograph the defect, and notify the authority. Acting on a hunch is how people end up prosecuted.
Yes. When an authority makes a new order there is a formal objection window, and a reasoned arboricultural response carries far more weight than a letter saying you would rather it wasn't there.
Not automatically, but it constrains what is achievable and it has to be designed around. This is exactly why a constraints plan is worth having before the design is fixed rather than after.
Tell us about the site and we will come back with a fixed fee and a date. No charge for asking, and no charge for being told you need less than you thought.