Checklist for a tree works application under a TPO

Works to a tree protected by a Tree Preservation Order need written consent from the local planning authority before anything is cut. The application is made under the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012, there is no fee, and the authority has eight weeks to decide. Cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting or wilfully damaging a protected tree without consent is a criminal offence under section 210 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and the duty to plant a replacement under section 206 follows removal whether or not consent was given.

A tree in a conservation area that is not covered by an Order is a different procedure: a section 211 notice giving the authority six weeks to decide whether to make an Order. Do not mix the two up on the form.

Confirming the tree is protected, and by what

Three possibilities, and they need different paperwork.

An Order protects a specified tree, group, area or woodland. The authority holds the Order with a plan and a schedule, and you are entitled to see it. Ask for the Order number, the schedule entry and the plan, and check that the tree you want to work on is the one listed. Orders made decades ago sometimes describe trees that have since been felled or that were never there, and an area designation can protect everything that was standing at the date the Order was made but not later self-seeded growth.

A conservation area tree with a trunk diameter over 75 millimetres, measured at 1.5 metres above ground, needs a section 211 notice rather than an application, with a lower threshold applying where the work is thinning to improve the growth of other trees.

A planning condition or a section 106 obligation can also protect trees on a development site, and breach of those is enforced differently again.

Check the authority's own records rather than relying on a neighbour, an estate agent's pack or a conveyancing search alone. Where the tree stands on a neighbour's land and overhangs yours, your common law right to abate a nuisance by cutting back to the boundary does not override the Order. You still need consent.

Describing the works precisely

The most common reason a TPO application is refused or returned is a vague description.

Write the specification as an arboriculturist would, species by species and tree by tree, using the Order's reference numbers. State the operation, the extent and the reason. So not "reduce the oak" but "T4 pedunculate oak: crown reduce lateral branches on the south-east aspect by up to 2 metres, retaining natural form, in accordance with BS 3998:2010". Not "cut back the lime" but "T7 common lime: remove epicormic growth to 3 metres and crown lift to 4.5 metres over the highway".

Include the timing. Works in the bird nesting season from March to August need a pre-works check, and bats in cavities or under loose bark are protected independently of the Order, so a bat assessment may be needed on veteran or cavity-bearing trees. A protected species survey and any licence require a suitably licensed ecologist under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.

Arboricultural justification and reports

The authority is weighing the amenity value of the tree against your reason for the work. Give it something to weigh.

For routine pruning, a short arboricultural specification and a statement of purpose is usually enough. For felling or heavy reduction, expect to need more:

• A condition report covering species, age class, height, stem diameter, crown spread, vitality and structural condition.
• The defect or conflict relied on, described and photographed, with any decay detection results.
• The management options considered and why the proposed work is the least intervention that resolves the problem.
• The replacement planting proposal.
• Where subsidence is claimed, engineering and soil evidence linking the damage to the tree, including root identification and a soil plasticity assessment. A claim unsupported by that evidence will not succeed.

Where the works relate to a development proposal, the evidence belongs in an arboricultural impact assessment prepared to BS 5837:2012 rather than in a bare TPO application, and the product's tree survey and arboricultural impact assessment page sets out what that document covers. Councils usually expect a suitably qualified author for this kind of report, and professional review is strongly advised.

Photographs and the tree plan

A plan and photographs do more work than the narrative.

Supply a site plan showing the tree positions with the Order reference numbers, the buildings, boundaries and any hard surfaces, at a stated scale. Add photographs taken from at least two directions, with the target branches or defects marked up on the image. Where crown reduction is proposed, an annotated photograph showing the proposed finished outline is the single most useful document you can submit, because it removes the ambiguity that produces a refusal or an over-restrictive condition.

Keep the file sizes sensible and name the files clearly. An officer who cannot work out which photograph shows which tree will ask, and that costs a fortnight.

Replacement planting proposals

Offer replacement planting with any felling application, even where you think it is not required.

State the species, nursery stock size, planting position, staking and protection, the establishment maintenance period and who is responsible. Where the original tree was large, a like-for-like replacement is rarely realistic on a domestic plot, so propose a species suited to the available rooting volume and say why. BS 8545 covers trees from nursery to independence and is the reference for establishment.

An application that offers nothing invites a condition requiring a replacement the authority chooses. An application that proposes something sensible usually gets it approved as proposed.

Determination, exemptions and the appeal route

The authority has eight weeks from a valid application. If it has not decided by then, you have a right of appeal to the Secretary of State, dealt with by the Planning Inspectorate.

A refusal, or a consent with conditions you cannot live with, can also be appealed. The appeal period is stated on the decision notice and is normally 28 days, which is much shorter than the period for a planning appeal, so diarise it the day the decision arrives.

Three exemptions are worth knowing, and all three are narrower than people assume. Dead trees are exempt but you must give the authority five days notice before the work except in an emergency. A tree that is an immediate risk of serious harm is exempt, with notice given as soon as practicable afterwards. Works to abate a nuisance are exempt only to the extent necessary, and a private law nuisance is not the same as inconvenience. In each case photograph the evidence before the saw touches the tree, because the burden of proving the exemption falls on you.

Where neighbours are affected, a conversation first avoids most of the objections, and the neighbour engagement template is a useful starting point.

An illustrative submission checklist

Treat this as illustrative and check it against your authority's requirements.

1. Confirm the Order number, schedule entry and plan, or establish that a section 211 notice is the right route instead.
2. Complete the tree works application form with no fee payable.
3. Site plan at a stated scale showing tree positions with Order references.
4. Annotated photographs from two or more directions, with target branches marked.
5. Works specification tree by tree, referencing BS 3998:2010 operations.
6. Arboricultural condition report where felling or heavy reduction is proposed.
7. Supporting engineering and soil evidence where subsidence is relied on.
8. Replacement planting proposal with species, size, position and aftercare.
9. Nesting bird and bat position, with a survey where the tree has roost potential.
10. Diarise the eight week determination date and the appeal period on the decision.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority's tree officer or a qualified arboriculturist before relying on it.

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