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Tree Has A Preservation Order
The council has told you the tree is protected, or you have found it is covered by an order or sits in a conservation area.
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What's happening?
A tree preservation order makes it an offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, wilfully damage or wilfully destroy a protected tree without the local planning authority's written consent. Trees in a conservation area that are not covered by an order are protected differently: you must give the authority six weeks' notice of the proposed work using a section 211 notice, and the work can go ahead sooner only if the authority consents. Neither is a ban on all work — councils grant consent for pruning and even felling where the case is made — but it does mean the paperwork comes before the chainsaw. Cutting first and asking afterwards is where homeowners get into real difficulty, and the fines are serious.
What usually causes it?
- An order made because the tree contributes to local amenity, sometimes decades ago and unknown to a new owner
- The property sitting in a conservation area, where all trees above a threshold size are covered by notice requirements
- An order made in response to a planning application, or as an area or woodland classification
- A planning condition on a newer estate requiring trees to be retained
- A neighbour or a passer-by reporting proposed work, prompting the council to make an order
- Assuming a tree is unprotected because nothing is registered on the title deeds — orders are held by the council, not the deeds
- Work planned by a previous contractor without anyone checking the tree's status
Is it dangerous?
The tree may or may not be a hazard — that is a separate question and it is answered by inspection, not by its legal status. What is at risk here is you. Contravening an order is a criminal offence: the court can impose a fine in the magistrates' court, and a serious case can go to the Crown Court where the fine is unlimited, with the financial benefit gained from the offence taken into account. There is also a duty to replace a protected tree that has been removed. Contractors have been prosecuted alongside owners, so a quote that dismisses the order is a warning sign about the contractor.
Can I fix it myself?
Check the status, then apply. Ask the council's tree officer whether the tree is covered by an order or sits in a conservation area, and get the answer in writing — this is free and usually quick. If work is needed, apply for consent for work to a protected tree, or submit a six-week section 211 notice for a conservation area tree, describing the work and the reason. You may prune your own protected tree only with consent, so pruning lightly while waiting is not a safe assumption. Dead trees and branches, dangerous trees and branches, fruit trees and work to abate a nuisance are among the exceptions, but they are narrower than they sound and the dead-or-dangerous route still requires notice.
When should you call a tree surgeon?
Call a tree surgeon to write the application rather than to start the work. A specification in the right terms, with a stated reason and a reference to good practice, is far more likely to get consent than a request to cut it back in general terms. Call immediately, order or not, if the tree is dangerous: urgent work to remove an immediate risk of serious harm is an exception, and written notice goes to the authority as soon as practicable afterwards.
What will the tree surgeon actually do?
- Confirm the tree's protected status with the local planning authority before quoting or booking
- Inspect the tree and write a specification in recognised terms rather than vague requests
- Prepare and submit the application for consent, or the six-week conservation area notice, with the justification
- Advise where an exception genuinely applies — dead or dangerous wood, nuisance abatement, urgent safety work
- Carry out the consented work to the specification, keeping to any conditions the authority attached
- Serve the written notice after urgent safety work, and advise on any replacement planting duty
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