Trees on allotment and public open space land

Allotment trees planning questions almost always start from a wrong assumption: that the trees on an allotment site or a public park are protected because the land is public. They are not, as a rule. The protection that matters attaches to the land rather than to the trees, and it comes from a different set of statutes from the ones the planning system uses. Understanding which of those applies to your site decides whether an objection has anywhere to go.

There are three separate questions. Who owns and manages the trees, whether the land itself can lawfully be disposed of or changed, and whether any individual tree carries its own protection.

Who owns and manages the trees

On a statutory allotment site the land is usually owned by the district, borough or parish council and let in plots to individual tenants. The trees on the boundaries and on the common areas belong to the landowner, not to the plot holders, and the tenancy agreement normally reserves tree work to the council. On a site let to an allotment association under a head lease, the association may hold the management obligation, which is a different thing from ownership.

On public open space the position is simpler. The authority owns the trees and manages them under its own tree policy, which is a policy document rather than a statutory instrument. A policy can be changed, and it does not give you a right of enforcement, though departures from a published policy are a fair point to raise.

So the first thing to establish is who holds the land and on what terms. The authority's land terrier and any lease will tell you, and a request for the relevant documents is a reasonable starting point.

Statutory protection for allotment land

Allotment land acquired or appropriated for allotments carries real statutory protection. Under the Allotments Act 1925, land held by a local authority for use as statutory allotments cannot be disposed of or appropriated for another purpose without the consent of the Secretary of State.

That consent is the pinch point, and it is where objections have the most effect. The Secretary of State's consent is normally sought on the basis that the allotments are surplus to requirements, that the authority has actively promoted and publicised the site, that there is no waiting list it needs to meet, or that alternative provision has been made. Each of those is a factual claim that can be contradicted with evidence, and evidence of unmet demand is the most effective contradiction there is.

Note: not every piece of land used for growing is a statutory allotment. Temporary allotments, land held under a different power, and private sites do not attract the 1925 Act protection. Establish the status before building an objection on it.

The separate duty on authorities to provide allotments where there is demand sits in earlier legislation, and a documented waiting list is what makes that duty bite.

Disposal of open space and the notice procedure

Public open space has its own procedure, and it is one many objectors never hear about. Under section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972, a principal council cannot dispose of land consisting of or forming part of open space unless it has first advertised its intention in a newspaper circulating in the area for two consecutive weeks, and has considered any objections received.

The same requirement applies to appropriation of open space to another purpose under section 122. These notices are easy to miss, because they appear in the public notices pages rather than on the planning register, and the objection period is short.

There is a consequence worth knowing. Where land is disposed of following that procedure, the statute frees it from any trust arising solely from its being held for public enjoyment, which includes trusts arising under the Open Spaces Act 1906. In other words the notice procedure is the mechanism by which a statutory trust over a park can be brought to an end. Objecting at the notice stage is therefore more consequential than objecting to the later planning application.

Tree removal as part of a disposal

Trees usually come down as part of the development that follows a disposal, not as a separate decision. That sequencing is why objections arrive too late.

Watch for three triggers:

• the open space disposal or appropriation notice, which is the real decision point
• the planning application, where tree loss is assessed as a planning matter
• any separate consent for the trees themselves, where they are protected

Where the authority is both landowner and planning authority, ask for the arboricultural information early. A survey to BS 5837 should exist if development is proposed, and its categorisation of the trees is the document an objection should engage with. The retention argument is much stronger when it is framed around a specific tree reference, its category and the layout change that would save it, rather than around the number of trees.

Protected trees on authority land

Tree Preservation Orders can and do cover trees on local authority land, and anyone can ask a local planning authority to make one. A request supported by a photograph, a location plan and a short statement of the amenity value is more likely to be acted on than a telephone call.

The complication is procedural. The 2012 Regulations contain exemptions for works carried out by or on behalf of a local planning authority, so an authority's own tree work may not require the consent a private owner would need. Check the exemption list in the Regulations for the specific situation rather than assuming either way. Conservation area trees are subject to the six week notice requirement under section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and the same question about exemptions applies.

Felling licences are a separate regime again. Where the volume felled exceeds the statutory exemption, a licence from the Forestry Commission is needed regardless of who owns the land, and that requirement applies to councils as it does to anyone else.

Replacement provision and commuted sums

Where tree loss is accepted, the question becomes what replaces it and where. National policy expects existing trees to be retained wherever possible and new development to be well treed, so a scheme that removes mature canopy and offers whips in a verge should expect resistance.

Councils value amenity trees using established systems, most commonly the capital asset valuation approach or the Helliwell point system, and those valuations are used to set replacement planting or a commuted payment. Ask which system was used and see the calculation, because the species, size, condition and location inputs are all arguable.

Three practical questions test any replacement offer. What size and species are proposed, and over what period will they replace the canopy lost. Who maintains them, for how long, and what is the agreed failure replacement rate. And where will they go, since replacement planting on a different site does not restore the amenity of the one being lost. A financial guarantee can secure delivery, in the way described in tree bonds.

Making an objection that works

Target the right decision and the right document.

1. Check whether the land is statutory allotment land or open space, and identify the statutory procedure that applies to it.
2. Watch the public notices for a disposal or appropriation notice, and object within the advertised period.
3. Gather evidence of use and demand: waiting lists, plot occupancy, user counts, photographs across the seasons.
4. Request the arboricultural survey and object by tree reference, not by total.
5. Ask the local planning authority to consider a Tree Preservation Order on specific trees.
6. Consider a nomination as an asset of community value under the Localism Act 2011, or registration as a town or village green under the Commons Act 2006 where the factual history supports it.

Seasonal timing affects the survey evidence too, and the limits set out in winter inspection limits on a tree survey are worth citing where a survey was done out of leaf.

Illustrative example. A borough proposes to build on half a park with 40 mature limes along a boundary avenue. The park is held for public recreation, so the section 123 notice is the decision that matters, and an objection at that stage can be supported by user counts and photographs. By the time the planning application arrives, the land has been freed from the trust and the argument has narrowed to layout and replacement.

PlanScope drafts an Open Space Assessment and a tree survey report from your project answers, and a qualified arboriculturist should carry out or sign off any assessment of tree condition. This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the status of the land and the current statutory position with the 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.