Tree works notifications in a conservation area

Anyone proposing to cut down, top, lop, uproot or wilfully damage a tree in a conservation area must give the local planning authority six weeks' written notice first, under section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The council uses that window to decide whether the tree deserves protection. If it does nothing, the work can go ahead as notified. If it wants to stop the work, it has to make a Tree Preservation Order within the six weeks.

So a section 211 notice is a question put to the council, rather than an application. And unlike a planning application, there is no duty on anyone to consult the neighbours about it.

The notice a tree owner must give

The notice goes to the council in writing and should identify the tree, its position, the species, and the work proposed. Most councils provide a form or an online route.

Section 211 bites on trees in a conservation area that are not already covered by a Tree Preservation Order. Where an Order already applies, the Order procedure takes over and a formal application for consent is needed instead, which carries a right of appeal if refused.

Several categories of work fall outside the notice requirement. The main ones are trees below 75 mm in diameter measured 1.5 metres above the ground, or below 100 mm where the work is thinning to improve the growth of other trees. Work to a dead tree is also outside it, subject to advance notice to the council in the period set by the regulations, as is work required under an Act of Parliament and work by or on behalf of certain statutory bodies. The exemptions are narrower than they sound, so read the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012 before relying on one.

Pruning counts. Topping and lopping are expressly within section 211, and a heavy reduction of a mature tree needs notice just as felling does.

The six week period and what the council can do

The clock runs from the day the council receives the notice. Three outcomes are possible.

The council makes a Tree Preservation Order, which stops the work and brings the tree permanently into the Order regime. The council writes back raising no objection, which lets the work proceed sooner than six weeks. Or the council does nothing and the six weeks expire, after which the work may be carried out as described in the notice.

That last point has a limit. Once the six weeks have passed, the notified work must be carried out within two years. After that, a fresh notice is needed.

Councils are not obliged to visit, and in practice whether a tree officer inspects depends on how the notice reads and how busy the team is. A notice describing the felling of a mature beech on a prominent street frontage will be looked at. A notice describing a crown lift on a garden conifer frequently will not.

Making an order in response

A Tree Preservation Order is made under section 198 of the 1990 Act where the authority considers it expedient in the interests of amenity. The usual test officers apply is visibility and contribution to the character of the area, and the Planning Practice Guidance on tree preservation orders describes the assessment.

An Order can take effect provisionally and immediately when made, which is how a council stops work within the six week window. The provisional Order lasts six months, during which the authority must confirm it or it falls away. Objections and representations can be made before confirmation, and the authority has to consider them.

What follows for the owner is a consent regime rather than a prohibition. Work to a protected tree needs a formal application, the authority can grant consent with conditions, and refusal carries a right of appeal. If you take part in such an appeal, the practicalities are the same as for any other, and taking part in an appeal as an interested party sets out the route.

How a neighbour finds out

This is the gap that frustrates people, and it is worth being plain about it.

Section 211 notices are recorded on the council's planning register and normally appear on the weekly list of applications and notices, often under a heading about works to trees in a conservation area. They are published, searchable and dated.

What does not happen is notification. The council does not write to adjoining owners, does not put up a site notice, and has no statutory consultation period. A neighbour who is not watching the weekly list will usually discover the notice when the saws arrive.

Two practical habits deal with that. Sign up for the council's weekly list by email, filtered to your ward if that option exists. And if you see tree surgeons setting up on a protected street, ring the council's tree officer the same day rather than the next week, because the six weeks may already be running.

What to say in a representation

There is no formal objection process, so a representation has to earn its weight on content. Write to the tree officer by email, quote the notice reference, and address the test the officer applies.

• Visibility. Where the tree can be seen from, meaning streets, footpaths, public open space and other properties, rather than only from your garden.
• Contribution to the conservation area. What the tree does for the street scene, its skyline, its relationship to the buildings around it, and whether it is part of a group or an avenue.
• Condition. If you have reason to think the tree is sound, say why. If the owner claims it is dangerous, ask whether a report has been produced.
• Wildlife. Bird nesting between March and August, and any evidence of bat activity, which engages separate protection.
• Alternatives. A reduction instead of felling, or phased work, where that would address the owner's concern.
• A photograph taken from the public highway, which is worth more than a description.

Keep it to one page and send it within days of the notice appearing. An officer deciding whether to make an Order in week five has usually already formed a view.

Avoid the arguments that carry no weight here. Loss of your view, the effect on your house value and a dispute about the boundary are not what section 198 asks about. Overhanging branches and falling leaves are a civil matter between owners and, if anything, support the owner's case.

Exemptions that apply

The exemptions that come up most often in conservation areas are dead trees and small stems.

A dead tree can be removed, subject to giving the council the advance notice the regulations require, except in an emergency. The burden of showing the tree was dead sits with whoever carried out the work, and a dead tree in August is easier to demonstrate than a dead tree in January.

There is no general exemption for a tree that is merely in poor condition, nor for one that is inconvenient, blocking light or dropping fruit. Where a tree really is dangerous, the sensible course is a report from a qualified arboriculturist, served on the council with the notice, rather than a claim made after the event.

A professional survey to BS 5837:2012 is the recognised format where the tree interacts with proposed development, and a Tree Survey of that kind is what councils expect alongside an application. Councils look for a suitably qualified author, and professional review is strongly advised.

What happens if work proceeds without notice

Carrying out work to a tree in a conservation area without giving notice is a criminal offence, prosecuted in the magistrates' court, and the fines available are substantial where a tree has been destroyed or damaged in a way likely to destroy it.

There is also a replanting duty. Section 213 of the 1990 Act requires the landowner to plant a replacement tree of appropriate size and species at the same place, as soon as reasonably possible, where a tree has been removed in contravention of section 211. That duty attaches to the land and passes to a subsequent owner.

Report suspected unauthorised work to the council's tree officer immediately, with photographs, the date and the time. Evidence gathered on the day is what makes a prosecution possible, and a stump photographed a fortnight later rarely does.

If the council declines to act and you think it has handled the matter badly, the route is its own complaints procedure, which we set out in the council planning complaint process. Getting involved earlier, before work or development is proposed, is more effective than any of this, and getting involved before applications are submitted explains how.

This is general guidance rather than legal advice, and the exemptions turn on detail in the 2012 Regulations, so check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified arboriculturist before relying on it.