Conservation Protected Trees

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Last revised: 7 October 2008

A Picture of a Tree

The Legal Procedures to follow before carrying out works to trees

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this leaflet is to provide guidance on the procedures to follow if you want to fell or carry out surgery work to trees. It sets out which trees are protected by law, and those which are not, and sets out the procedures to be followed to obtain consent to carry out tree works.




In general protected trees fall into three categories, and the following applications or notifications are relevant to them:
A. Felling Licence Applications - administered by the Forestry Authority
B. Tree Preservation Order Applications - administered by Kennet District Council
C. Conservation Area Notifications - administered by Kennet District Council
Fruit trees grown in commercial orchards, with the exception of those grown for timber purposes, are exempt from the above. The exemption also extends to the pruning of non-commercial fruit trees (those specifically grown for fruit) in accordance with good horticultural practice. However, the felling of non-commercial fruit trees is not exempt. Ornamental fruit trees, including walnut, mulberry and fig, are not exempt from any application or notification requirements.

Trees that are dead, dying and dangerous are also exempt. However, you should notify the Council at least five days prior to undertaking any work to such trees. Although formal consent is not required, in the case of Tree Preservation Order applications and Conservation Area notifications you must be able to demonstrate to the Council that the work is exempt. In certain circumstances you may be required to plant a replacement tree.

In addition to the above, if you own, or are a tenant of, a Site of Special Scientific Interest you will have to inform English Nature in writing of any proposed tree works, so that they can assess the effect of the proposals. You should inform English Nature at the same time as making your application to the Forestry Authority or Kennet District Council, so that full discussions can be carried out prior to the issuing of authority to carry out the tree work.

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TREE PRESERVATION ORDER APPLICATIONS

Consent is required to fell or carry out work to trees covered by Tree Preservation Orders. This is given by Kennet District Council who are also empowered to make TPOs where deemed necessary. A TPO is made to protect individual trees, tree groups, and woodland from deliberate damage and to prevent the felling, uprooting, or the carrying out of any unauthorised work to trees of high amenity value without the consent of the Council. There is no restriction on the sizes of trees which may be covered by TPOs.

A TPO consent is not required if the trees can be proved to be dead, dying or dangerous. The onus is on the owner of the trees to prove this. It is therefore advisable to seek the advice of the Council’s Landscape and Countryside Officer or Arboricultural Officer prior to undertaking works to a tree that you believe may fall into this category.

You must make a written application to carry out any works to trees covered by a Tree Preservation Order. This should include full details of the work that you wish to carry out and a location plan. The Council will issue a decision on your application, normally within eight weeks of receiving it.

You must not carry out any works to TPO trees until a written consent has been given. If you deliberately destroy a tree or damage it in a manner likely to destroy it, you could be fined up to £20,000 per tree in the Magistrates Court, or face an unlimited fine in the Crown Court. The Courts can also have regard to the financial benefit derived from unauthorised works and can fine accordingly. For other offences you could be fined up to £2500.

It is sometimes the case that a Felling Licence is also required to carry out the felling of trees covered by Tree Preservation Orders. The application should be sent to the Forestry Authority. The application will be forwarded to Kennet District Council to deal with. Only when the application is to fell and not restock, for example where trees are to be felled to convert the land to agricultural use, will the Forestry Authority deal with it.

Consents issued for the felling of trees covered by TPOs normally have a replanting condition, the replacement trees are then covered by the TPO. A TPO consent runs for an indefinite period, unless the Council imposes a condition that the work shall be carried out within a specific period of time.

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CONSERVATION AREA NOTIFICATIONS



Within the Kennet District there are at present 69 designated Conservation Areas. If you wish to carry out works to trees in a Conservation Area, you must give Kennet District Council six weeks prior written notification. Where the Council has objections to a notification it must respond within six weeks of the date on which the notification was received. The Council can then give the trees full protection by making a Tree Preservation Order in respect of them. If the Council does not respond within six weeks, or raises no objections to the proposals, the work may go ahead.

As with a TPO, trees within Conservation Areas are protected from deliberate damage, with penalties for non- compliance being equivalent to those for trees covered by TPOs. Dead, dying, or dangerous trees are exempt from the notification procedure, but as with trees covered by TPOs, it is advisable to seek the advice of Kennet District Council's Arboricultural Officer prior to undertaking works that you believe fall into this category.

Unlike the TPO legislation, the Conservation Area legislation gives a minimum size for trees below which notification is not required. A trunk diameter of less than 75 mm at 1.5 metres in height does not require notification. If felling or uprooting is to be carried out as part of a thinning exercise, to give space to allow other trees to grow, a minimum trunk diameter of 100 mm at 1.5 metres in height is permitted before a notification will be required.

If the Council raises no objections the work must be completed within two years of the date of notification; otherwise a further notification will be required.

If the proposed tree work within a Conservation Area is to trees covered by a TPO, the TPO consent procedure should be followed. If the proposals require a Felling Licence, it will take precedence over the Conservation Area notification, although Kennet District Council will be party to any decision taken.

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WHO TO CONTACT

Felling Licence Applications-
Woodland Officer,
The Forestry Authority,
Wye and Avon Conservancy,
Postern Hill Office,
Marlborough,
Wiltshire,
SN8 4ND
Tel: 01672 511767

Tree Preservation Order Applications and Conservation Area Notifications-
Landscape and Countryside Officer & Arboricultural Officer
Community Services
Kennet District Council,
Browfort, Bath Road,
Devizes,
Wiltshire , SN10 2AT
Tel: 01380 724911
e-mail: conserve@kennet.gov.uk www.kennet.gov.uk

LEGISLATION



The legislation requiring the issuing of a Felling Licence is contained in the Forestry Act 1967 and has been clarified and added to by subsequent amendments.

The Tree Preservation Order Consent and Conservation Area Notification legislation is contained within the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (sections 197 - 214).

The Town and Country Planning (Trees) Regulations 1999.