Tree preservation order

A Tree Preservation Order is a written order made by a Local Planning Authority (e.g. a borough, district or unitary council or a national park authority) which, in general, makes it an offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, wilfully damage or wilfully destroy a tree protected by that order without the authority’s permission.

The Tree preservation Order system provides the principal regulatory means for protecting trees. Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) make and manage Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) to protect selected individual trees, groups of trees and woodlands, largely those of amenity value to local communities. Orders prohibit the cutting down, uprooting, topping, lopping, wilful destruction or wilful damage of protected trees without an authority’s consent.

The coalition government have now created a new single set of regulations, one consolidated system that applies to all orders by:

The new regulations create one system that applies to every Tree Preservation Order, existing or proposed. The new regulations, entitled the Town and County Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012, were laid before parliament on 5 March 2012.

The purpose of a Tree Preservation Order is to protect trees which bring significant amenity benefit to the local area. This protection is particularly important where trees are under threat. All species of trees can be covered by a TPO, but not hedges, bushes or shrubs. An order can protect anything from a single tree to all trees within a defined area or woodland. Any species can be protected, but no species is automatically protected by a Tree Preservation Order.

Provisional protection comes into effect as soon as the Local Planning Authority makes the order. The authority will then need to confirm the order within six months to provide long-term protection. Objections to new Tree Preservation Orders can be made to the Local Planning Authority within the period it allows for comment (usually 28 days), identifying the tree or trees in question and giving your reasons. The authority will take your comments into account when deciding whether or not to confirm the order. The authority can also modify an order when it confirms it, for example to exclude some of the trees it originally wanted to cover.

Once a Tree Preservation Order has been made, apart from special exceptions you must seek permission from the Local Planning Authority by submitting a standard application form, location plan and arborist report to undertake any work to it. This is best to be undertaken by a qualified tree consultant who can successfully describe the operations that are needed to the Local Planning Authority in order that consent for the tree work operations can be swiftly issued.

This year we have been 100% successful with tree preservation order appeals. Here are two of the decisions: