Trees and planning permission: TPOs, conservation areas and felling

 

You do not normally need planning permission simply to prune or cut down an ordinary tree in a private garden. But a tree may be protected by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO), by the special tree controls in a conservation area, by a planning condition, by nature-conservation law or by the Forestry Act felling-licence system.

The species itself is rarely the answer. A silver birch, oak, conifer or fruit tree is not automatically protected merely because of its species. The question is what legal control applies to the particular tree and land.

Before significant tree work, check the local authority’s TPO and conservation-area records and, for substantial felling outside the usual garden exemptions, the current Forestry Commission rules.

 

When might you need consent or another approval?

 

Before felling, topping, lopping or carrying out substantial pruning, check whether:

• the tree is protected by a Tree Preservation Order
• the tree is in a conservation area
• a planning condition or planning obligation protects trees or landscaping on the site
• the land is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and the operation engages the SSSI consent regime
• a Forestry Commission felling licence is needed
• another private control applies, such as a tenancy, covenant or ownership restriction
• wildlife law affects the timing or method of work, for example because an active bird nest or protected species is present

A planning condition is not limited to the first five years of a development. Read the actual permission and condition: landscape and tree-protection requirements can continue for much longer where their wording and legal effect require it.

 

Trees protected by a Tree Preservation Order

 

A TPO can protect an individual tree, a group, trees within an area or a woodland. Unless an exception applies, the order prohibits cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, wilful damage or wilful destruction without the local planning authority’s written consent.

Applications for works to TPO trees are normally determined within eight weeks. If the authority does not determine the application within that period, the applicant may appeal to the Secretary of State for non-determination; the work does not become automatically consented. If consent is refused or granted subject to unacceptable conditions, there is a 28-day appeal period. See our dedicated guides to Tree Preservation Orders and TPO appeals.

 

Trees in a conservation area: six weeks’ notice, not an application for consent

 

Where a tree is in a conservation area and is not already protected by a TPO, section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 generally requires the person proposing work to give the local planning authority six weeks’ notice.

This is not the same as applying for TPO consent. The notice gives the authority time to consider whether the tree should be protected by a TPO. If the authority makes an order, the TPO regime then applies. If it does not, the notified work may normally proceed once the six-week period has expired.

The conservation-area rules do not apply to every tiny stem. The normal exemption covers trees with a stem diameter of 75mm or less, measured at 1.5 metres above ground level. Where work is thinning undertaken to improve the growth of other trees, the corresponding diameter threshold is 100mm.

 

Dead trees and trees presenting an immediate risk of serious harm

 

The old shorthand “dead, dying or dangerous” should be used with care. Under the 2012 Tree Preservation Regulations, a tree being dying is not by itself a general exemption from the need for consent.

For a protected tree which is dead, or where works are urgently necessary to remove an immediate risk of serious harm, special exceptions apply. Where circumstances allow, at least five working days’ written notice should be given to the local planning authority. If the risk is so immediate that advance notice is not practicable, notice should be given as soon as practicable after the work becomes necessary.

Keep good evidence: dated photographs and a competent arboriculturist’s assessment can be important if the authority later questions whether the exception applied. Only the minimum work justified by the exception should be carried out.

 

Do you need a Forestry Commission felling licence?

 

A felling licence is a separate control from planning permission and TPOs. In England, unless another exception applies, a licence is normally needed where the proposed felling exceeds the quarterly allowance.

The current allowance permits up to 5 cubic metres of growing trees per property in a calendar quarter without a felling licence, provided no more than 2 cubic metres are sold. Calendar quarters run January-March, April-June, July-September and October-December.

There are important exemptions, including many trees in private gardens, orchards, churchyards and qualifying public open spaces, certain small-diameter trees, and some felling required for safety or by another statutory authority. Use the Forestry Commission’s current felling-licence guidance rather than relying on an old summary.

Remember that exemption from a felling licence does not override a TPO, conservation-area control or other separate legal restriction.

 

Planning permission and protected trees

 

Trees are often material to the design of a planning application. The authority can consider existing trees, their amenity value, future growth and the effect of construction on roots and crowns. Conditions can secure tree retention, protection during construction and new planting.

If full planning permission has been granted and work to a TPO tree is genuinely necessary to implement that permission, the 2012 Regulations contain an exception from separate TPO consent. The exception is limited to work so far as necessary to implement the permission. It does not apply merely because development happens to have been approved nearby, and outline permission or permitted development does not provide the same general exemption.

This is why tree effects should be resolved through the planning application itself rather than assumed after permission is granted.

Where a proposal affects ancient woodland, ancient trees or veteran trees, there is an additional planning-policy issue because these can be treated as irreplaceable habitats. That protection is different from a TPO and should be assessed separately rather than assumed to be covered by the ordinary tree-control regime.

 

Tree surveys for planning applications

 

Where trees on or close to a site could be affected, a local validation list may require arboricultural information. The current British Standard is BS 5837:2012 – Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction: Recommendations. It replaced BS 5837:2005 in April 2012.

Depending on the development, the arboricultural work can include:

• a tree survey and categorisation
• a tree constraints plan
• an Arboricultural Impact Assessment
• root protection areas
• an Arboricultural Method Statement and tree-protection plan
• details of proposed removals and replacement planting

The purpose is not merely to count trees. Good arboricultural input informs the site layout early enough to avoid designing a scheme which cannot be built without unacceptable damage.

 

Wildlife can be a separate restriction

 

The fact that a tree is not protected by a TPO does not make wildlife law disappear. Active wild-bird nests are protected and some trees can contain bat roosts or other protected species. Work should be planned with appropriate ecological advice where there is a realistic risk. Our ecological survey calendar explains when common protected-species surveys can usually be carried out.

Likewise, if a tree is on an SSSI, the site notification and operations requiring Natural England’s consent need to be checked rather than assuming that SSSI designation automatically prohibits all tree work.

 

What about hedgerows?

 

Hedgerows are not simply treated as trees. The removal of qualifying countryside hedgerows is controlled separately by the Hedgerows Regulations 1997. Garden hedges normally fall outside that regime.

Because hedgerow removal has its own notification procedure and tests for an “important hedgerow”, it deserves to be dealt with separately rather than squeezed into the tree rules. See our guide to a Hedgerow Removal Notice.

 

Relevant legislation and guidance

 

• Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Part VIII
• Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012
• Government guidance: Tree Preservation Orders and trees in conservation areas
• Forestry Commission: when a felling licence is needed

 

Conservation, Heritage & Protected Sites

 

Trees Page Updated: 30th August 2026