Conservation area tree notices and appealing a refusal
Six weeks notice, then the work is lawful for two years. Unless the council makes a Tree Preservation Order, which is where an appealable refusal becomes possible.
There is no such thing as a refused conservation area tree notice. If your tree stands in a conservation area and is not already protected by a Tree Preservation Order, you give the council six weeks' written notice of the work you intend to do, and the council has those six weeks to decide whether to protect the tree. Do nothing and the work becomes lawful at the end of the six weeks. Make an Order and the position changes completely, because you then need formal consent, and it is the refusal of that consent that carries a right of appeal.
Understanding which stage you are at saves a lot of wasted correspondence. Owners often write to the Planning Inspectorate about a notice that was never capable of being refused.
The six week notice procedure
Section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 makes it an offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, wilfully damage or wilfully destroy a tree in a conservation area without first giving notice to the local planning authority.
The notice is free. It has to describe the tree and the work, and most authorities provide a form or accept the standard notification route through the Planning Portal. Include a plan marking the tree, a photograph, the species and an approximate stem diameter, and describe the work in arboricultural terms rather than as a general intention. Crown reduction of 2 metres on the lateral limbs over the garage is a description. Tidying up the sycamore is not.
Then wait. You must not start the work during the six week period, and there is no mechanism for the council to shorten it, although a planning officer may tell you informally that no Order is intended.
What happens if the authority does nothing
Silence is permission of a sort. Once six weeks have passed from the date the authority received the notice, you may carry out the work exactly as described, and that right lasts for two years from the date of the notice.
Two practical points follow. Keep proof of the date the notice was received, because the clock runs from receipt rather than from posting, and an email acknowledgement is the simplest evidence. And carry out the work as described. If you notify a crown reduction and then fell the tree, you have committed the offence, and the fact that you gave a notice about something else is no defence.
The two year window is often forgotten. A notice given in spring for work planned the following winter is fine. A notice from three years ago is not, and you have to start again.
Where a Tree Preservation Order follows
If the authority decides the tree is worth protecting, it will make a Tree Preservation Order within the six weeks, usually with a direction that takes immediate provisional effect for six months while objections are considered.
Once the Order exists you need consent for any work covered by it. You apply to the authority, which must determine the application and give reasons for a refusal or for conditions. The Order replaces the notice procedure for that tree permanently, so future work needs an application every time.
Objecting to the Order itself is a separate exercise from applying for consent. There is no appeal against the making of an Order, and the only route to challenge confirmation is through the authority's own consideration of objections and then, if there is a legal error, the courts. That asymmetry surprises people, and the compensation position for other protective directions works along similar lines, as the position on objecting to Article 4 directions and claiming compensation shows.
Appealing the resulting refusal
A refusal of consent under a Tree Preservation Order, or a grant with conditions you cannot live with, can be appealed to the Secretary of State under the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012.
The procedure is short by planning standards:
- Appeal within 28 days of the date of the authority's decision notice, or within 28 days of the end of the determination period if the authority has not decided.
- Set out the grounds, with the arboricultural evidence and the photographs attached.
- Expect written representations, which is how almost all tree appeals are handled, with a site visit by the inspector.
- The inspector can allow the appeal, dismiss it, or substitute different conditions, including a replacement planting requirement.
The grounds that succeed are specific. Poor structural condition supported by a decay assessment. Demonstrable damage to a building, with evidence linking the tree to the damage rather than an assumption. Loss of amenity to the occupier that outweighs public amenity, which is a hard argument on a prominent tree. Hardship is a recognised consideration but a weak one on its own.
Read a few decided appeals before writing yours. Inspectors structure their reasoning the same way each time, and how to read a planning appeal decision letter explains where the findings on condition and amenity sit.
Exempt works and dead trees
Some work needs no notice at all. The exemptions in section 211 and the 2012 Regulations include small trees below the stated stem diameter measured at 1.5 metres above ground level, with a larger diameter allowed where you are thinning to help other trees grow.
Dead trees are exempt, but only on terms. You must give the authority five days' written notice before the work, unless the situation is urgent, in which case notice is given as soon as practicable afterwards. Removing dead branches from a living tree is exempt, and so is work that is urgently necessary to remove an immediate risk of serious harm.
That last exemption is narrower than owners want it to be. An immediate risk of serious harm means something close to imminent failure over a target, not a tree that looks unbalanced. Photograph everything before the work, get a written opinion from an arboriculturist on the day if you possibly can, and keep the arisings available for inspection. Authorities do prosecute, and the owner carries the burden of showing the exemption applied.
Evidence from an arboriculturist
For anything contested, instruct someone properly qualified. A report should identify the tree, record its condition using a recognised assessment method, state the proposed work and its arboricultural justification, and address the amenity value the authority is protecting.
Councils usually expect a suitably qualified author for this kind of evidence, and professional review is strongly advised before you submit, particularly where the report has to support an appeal. A survey prepared to the British Standard for trees in relation to design, demolition and construction is the right document where building work is also proposed, and the Arboricultural Impact Assessment and tree survey page sets out what that covers.
Where structural damage is alleged, you will usually need two reports rather than one, because the arboriculturist can describe the root system and the structural engineer attributes the movement. Soil investigation and level monitoring over a period are what persuade an inspector, and a letter from a builder is not.
Offences and penalties
Breaching the notice requirement, or carrying out work to a tree protected by an Order without consent, is an offence. Destroying a tree or damaging it in a way likely to destroy it is the more serious limb, and conviction in the magistrates' court carries an unlimited fine.
There is also a duty to plant a replacement tree where a conservation area tree or a protected tree is removed in contravention, and the authority can serve a tree replacement notice requiring it. That notice is itself appealable.
Contractors are not a shield. Where the work is done by a tree surgeon on your instructions, you can both be liable, and reputable contractors now ask to see the notice or the consent before quoting.
This is general guidance, not legal advice, and tree protection cases turn on the particular tree and the authority's own conservation area designation, so check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports a project involving your trees is likely to need.
Frequently asked questions
Can the council refuse a conservation area tree notice?
No. The notice under section 211 is not an application, so there is nothing to refuse. The authority has six weeks either to do nothing, in which case the work becomes lawful for two years, or to make a Tree Preservation Order. Only a later refusal of consent under that Order carries a right of appeal.
How long does the notice last?
Two years from the date of the notice. You may carry out the work described, exactly as described, once six weeks have passed from the date the authority received it. Keep an email acknowledgement as proof of the receipt date, because the six weeks runs from receipt rather than from the date you posted the notice.
What is the deadline for a tree appeal?
Twenty-eight days from the date of the authority's decision notice refusing consent or imposing conditions, or from the end of the determination period where no decision has been issued. Appeals under the 2012 Regulations are almost always handled by written representations with a site visit, so the written grounds carry the whole case.
Is a dangerous tree exempt from the notice requirement?
Only where the work is urgently necessary to remove an immediate risk of serious harm, which is narrower than it sounds. Dead trees are exempt subject to five days written notice beforehand, or notice as soon as practicable afterwards in an emergency. Photograph the tree, obtain a written arboricultural opinion and keep the arisings.
What are the penalties for cutting without notice?
It is a criminal offence. Destroying a tree, or damaging it in a way likely to destroy it, carries an unlimited fine on conviction in the magistrates' court. There is also a duty to plant a replacement, which the authority can enforce by a tree replacement notice. Both the owner and the contractor can be liable.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.