Section 211 notices and tree works in a conservation area

A section 211 notice for trees is not an application and the council cannot refuse it. If a tree in a conservation area is not already covered by a Tree Preservation Order, you must give the local planning authority six weeks' notice before cutting it down, topping it, lopping it or uprooting it. The authority then has those six weeks to decide whether to protect the tree with an Order. Do nothing within the period and, if no Order appears, you may carry out the work, and that right lasts for two years from the date of the notice.

So there is nothing to appeal against at this stage. The appeal right appears later, and only if the council makes an Order and then refuses consent under it.

The six week notice and what it buys you

The notice has to describe the tree and the work. In practice that means a plan showing the tree's position, the species, an approximate height and trunk diameter, exactly what you propose to do, and why. Most authorities have a form and accept the notice through the national planning portal.

Six weeks runs from the date the authority receives a valid notice. If the description is vague, for example "prune trees in rear garden", the authority may treat the notice as invalid and the clock never starts. Name each tree and give it a number on the plan.

What you get at the end of the six weeks is a window, not a permission. The works may be carried out as described in the notice, within two years. Carry out something different, or wait longer than two years, and you need a fresh notice.

Many authorities will write back before the six weeks are up to say they do not intend to make an Order. That letter lets you start early and is worth asking for, particularly where a contractor is booked.

What the authority can do in response

There are only three outcomes, and it helps to know them before you start worrying.

The authority does nothing, the six weeks expire, and you proceed. The authority writes to confirm it has no objection, and you proceed sooner. Or the authority makes a Tree Preservation Order covering the tree, which stops the works and changes the process entirely.

A new Order takes effect provisionally as soon as it is made and lasts six months in that state. Anyone affected can make representations or objections within 28 days, and the authority then decides whether to confirm it, with or without modification. That is your first real opportunity to argue, and it is an argument about whether the tree merits protection rather than about whether your works are reasonable.

What persuades authorities not to confirm: evidence that the tree is in poor condition, that it is an inappropriate species in an inappropriate place, that it has limited public visibility and therefore contributes little to the character of the conservation area, or that it is causing damage that cannot be managed.

Trees and works that are exempt

Several categories of tree and work fall outside the notice requirement, and the regulations set them out. The ones householders meet most often:

• Trees with a trunk diameter of less than 75 mm, measured at 1.5 m above ground level.
• Trees with a trunk diameter of less than 100 mm, where the work is thinning to improve the growth of other trees.
• Dead trees, and the removal of dead branches from a living tree.
• Works necessary to prevent or abate a nuisance in the legal sense.
• Works required to implement a full planning permission that the authority has granted.
• Fruit trees cultivated for fruit production.
• Works carried out by or on behalf of certain bodies, or required by an Act of Parliament.

Two of those deserve a warning. The diameter thresholds are measured properly, at 1.5 m, on the main stem, and a multi-stemmed tree is measured according to the rules in the regulations rather than by picking the thinnest stem. And the nuisance exemption is narrower than people assume. It covers nuisance in law, such as actual damage or substantial interference, not shade, leaf fall, bird droppings or a view. If you are relying on nuisance, get advice, because the exemption is a defence you may have to prove in a criminal court.

The honest practical advice is to serve the notice unless the exemption is obvious. It costs nothing and it takes six weeks.

Dead and dangerous trees, and the duty to replace

Dead trees are exempt, as are trees presenting an immediate risk of serious harm, but the exemption comes with conditions and a trap.

For urgent works to a dangerous tree, give the authority notice as soon as practicable afterwards, and in any event within five days of the work. Before touching it, photograph the defect from several angles, keep the photographs with their metadata, and where time allows get a short written opinion from an arboriculturist. The burden of showing that the tree was dead or dangerous falls on you, and a bare assertion after the stump has been ground out rarely succeeds.

There is also a replanting duty. Where a tree in a conservation area is removed because it was dead or dangerous, the landowner is under a duty to plant another tree of an appropriate size and species at the same place as soon as reasonably practicable. Authorities do enforce this, and a replacement planted in the right spot costs less than the correspondence.

The offence, and why people commit it by accident

Carrying out works to a conservation area tree without giving notice, or within the six week period, is a criminal offence. Conviction in the magistrates' court carries an unlimited fine, and the court is required to have regard to any financial benefit that has accrued or is likely to accrue from the offence, which matters where the tree stood in the way of a development.

Most prosecutions follow one of four mistakes:

1. Nobody realised the property was in a conservation area. Check before instructing anyone, because conservation area boundaries often follow the edge of a single street.
2. The notice was served but the contractor started in week four.
3. The works carried out were more extensive than the notice described, usually a reduction that became a removal.
4. A tree surgeon advised the owner that it was fine. The owner, as the person causing or permitting the works, is the one prosecuted.

Tell your contractor in writing what the notice covers, and keep a copy of the notice and the authority's acknowledgement on site.

Where an appeal exists and where it does not

This is the part that confuses people, so take it in order.

There is no appeal against a Tree Preservation Order being made. You object or make representations within 28 days and the authority decides whether to confirm it. If it confirms, your remedy is judicial review on legality, which is rarely proportionate for a single garden tree.

Once a tree is protected by an Order, works need the authority's consent. You apply, and the authority grants, grants with conditions, or refuses. A refusal, or a condition you object to, can be appealed to the Secretary of State, determined by the Planning Inspectorate, and the time limit is 28 days from the decision. That is the appeal right.

So the sequence for a householder who really wants a tree removed is: serve the section 211 notice, expect an Order if the tree is good, object to the Order within 28 days, and if it is confirmed apply for consent and appeal a refusal.

Appeal decisions on comparable trees are useful material at that stage, since they show how inspectors have weighed amenity value against damage and replacement planting, as we set out in using appeal decisions in a planning application.

The arboricultural evidence to submit

The quality of the evidence decides these cases, and a one line reason on a form is wasted.

Where the works are about tree condition, provide a report from an arboriculturist covering species, dimensions, estimated age, physiological and structural condition, any decay or defect with the method used to identify it, the remaining life expectancy and the options considered. A report that recommends a 25 per cent crown reduction as an alternative to felling carries far more weight than one that recommends removal and nothing else.

Where the works are about damage to a building, the authority will want more than cracks in a photograph. A structural engineer's opinion, a drain survey if drains are implicated, soil samples and root identification if subsidence is alleged, and the insurer's position if there is a claim.

Where the works relate to development, a tree survey to the British Standard for trees in relation to design, demolition and construction is the right document, and a tree survey and arboricultural impact assessment should set out the constraints, the root protection areas and the mitigation. Councils usually expect a suitably qualified author and professional review is strongly advised.

And always offer replacement planting. A proposal that removes one declining sycamore and plants two appropriate trees in better positions is a different proposition from one that just removes a tree.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; the exemptions are technical and the offences are criminal, so check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified arboriculturist before any work starts.

You can enter your postcode on PlanScope to see whether a site sits in a conservation area and what else is recorded against it, or browse all 66 report types to see which documents a tree-related application needs. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.