Tree Protection Orders
Discussion
Hi, I am looking at buying a property with approx. 1.5 acres of land.
The property doesn't have a garage at the front and we would want to have one built which would mean possibly removing a couple of trees. The whole area is covered by a tree protection order which seems to cover pretty much all of the trees.
There is also an issue with one particular tree blocking a lot of light from getting to the property. We would want to remove some branches from this tree, ideally we would remove the whole tree.
Does anyone have any experience with tree protection orders. I have spoken to the local tree officer but he said we would have to apply for permission to remove/prune trees.
It all seems a grey area. We want to make an offer on the property but this is a concern for us.
Thanks,
Andrew
The property doesn't have a garage at the front and we would want to have one built which would mean possibly removing a couple of trees. The whole area is covered by a tree protection order which seems to cover pretty much all of the trees.
There is also an issue with one particular tree blocking a lot of light from getting to the property. We would want to remove some branches from this tree, ideally we would remove the whole tree.
Does anyone have any experience with tree protection orders. I have spoken to the local tree officer but he said we would have to apply for permission to remove/prune trees.
It all seems a grey area. We want to make an offer on the property but this is a concern for us.
Thanks,
Andrew
My father in law is in the process of building a property at the moment - his plot was quite wooded and his plans required a number of trees to be felled.
He's a surveyor so very familiar with planning process, so he immediately felled the trees upon buying the property (he had no need to get approval to do this), and then put in the plans afterwards. This avoided the need to indicate the required felling on the plans, as this can draw attention from the planning department.
So you may find it easier to take this approach - if the trees themselves do require permission to be altered, then it's possibly not going to make any difference though.
He's a surveyor so very familiar with planning process, so he immediately felled the trees upon buying the property (he had no need to get approval to do this), and then put in the plans afterwards. This avoided the need to indicate the required felling on the plans, as this can draw attention from the planning department.
So you may find it easier to take this approach - if the trees themselves do require permission to be altered, then it's possibly not going to make any difference though.
Dogbash said:
It all seems a grey area.
Very black and white if covered by TPO. Currently going through it with my local council for lifting crown etc on next doors tree.http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/section...
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/section...
Whatever you do, do not touch any tree covered by a T.P.O. without the permission from the Local Council. To do so invites not only serious problems but fines running into the thousands of pounds, even a simple light prune can, and often will, invite prosecution. To make matters certain you have already flagged you're intentions to the Council that you wish to 'work on the trees' and have been advised to apply.
Get down to the local council offices, or call them to discuss. When I went through this with Torridge District Council (North Devon) they had a person who was specifically in charge of TPOs. Depending on the trees you may find them very accommodating in terms of what can be done, however if it's a particularly old oak that really stands out then you may find you are restricted in what you can do.
Dogbash said:
Hi, I am looking at buying a property with approx. 1.5 acres of land.
The property doesn't have a garage at the front and we would want to have one built which would mean possibly removing a couple of trees. The whole area is covered by a tree protection order which seems to cover pretty much all of the trees.
There is also an issue with one particular tree blocking a lot of light from getting to the property. We would want to remove some branches from this tree, ideally we would remove the whole tree.
Does anyone have any experience with tree protection orders. I have spoken to the local tree officer but he said we would have to apply for permission to remove/prune trees.
It all seems a grey area. We want to make an offer on the property but this is a concern for us.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi,The property doesn't have a garage at the front and we would want to have one built which would mean possibly removing a couple of trees. The whole area is covered by a tree protection order which seems to cover pretty much all of the trees.
There is also an issue with one particular tree blocking a lot of light from getting to the property. We would want to remove some branches from this tree, ideally we would remove the whole tree.
Does anyone have any experience with tree protection orders. I have spoken to the local tree officer but he said we would have to apply for permission to remove/prune trees.
It all seems a grey area. We want to make an offer on the property but this is a concern for us.
Thanks,
Andrew
We have a couple of TPO trees and we needed to do some 'tidying up' of a particular tree, so approached the council - they sent someone out who agreed to the work. We had to use a professional tree person though. The tree in question split into two at the base and they also agreed that the next door neighbour could remove the smaller trunk to allow for the building of an extension. So, to answer your question (as others already have!), talk to the council.
Update- managed to get the number for the local TPO. He said that "lopping to allow sunlight in" is not a good enough reason to lop a tree.
So basically I'm stuffed from that point of view.
I think if you want to build where a tree is then you can sometimes gain permission to remove trees etc.
Andrew
So basically I'm stuffed from that point of view.
I think if you want to build where a tree is then you can sometimes gain permission to remove trees etc.
Andrew
Some time ago, I needed to fell 17 trees covered by a TPO to build my house. I wanted to play it with a very straight bat.
I employed an arboriculturist to make an assessment, submit a plan for replanting and get approvals. This worked out just fine.
However in the long term, trees keep growing and their problems never really went away.
Hopefully, things have improved. My neighbours could not receive TV pictures because of trees, they were effectively a nuisance, but a request to prune was rejected, without any right of appeal. I appealed for a review with the Department of the Environment and lost.
Good luck!
I employed an arboriculturist to make an assessment, submit a plan for replanting and get approvals. This worked out just fine.
However in the long term, trees keep growing and their problems never really went away.
Hopefully, things have improved. My neighbours could not receive TV pictures because of trees, they were effectively a nuisance, but a request to prune was rejected, without any right of appeal. I appealed for a review with the Department of the Environment and lost.
Good luck!
ks.£25k fine for felling a tree with a TPO on it without permission last time I checked. We applied, through a tree surgeon, for 10 out of 13 trees to be removed when we bought our new house, and got permission for all. It helped that they were sycamore and holly so not of particular value. Also had permission to reduce a large beech by 20% and crown a hornbeam and oak - so it can be done - but you need to go through the process. Get professional help - a good and registered tree surgeon will have relationships in place with the council which go a long way to oiling the wheels, and they also know exactly what, and what not, to say on the forms.
ladderino said:
My father in law is in the process of building a property at the moment - his plot was quite wooded and his plans required a number of trees to be felled.
He's a surveyor so very familiar with planning process, so he immediately felled the trees upon buying the property (he had no need to get approval to do this), and then put in the plans afterwards. This avoided the need to indicate the required felling on the plans, as this can draw attention from the planning department.
So you may find it easier to take this approach - if the trees themselves do require permission to be altered, then it's possibly not going to make any difference though.
Do NOT do this where there is a TPO or the property is in a Conservation Area. It will not end well.He's a surveyor so very familiar with planning process, so he immediately felled the trees upon buying the property (he had no need to get approval to do this), and then put in the plans afterwards. This avoided the need to indicate the required felling on the plans, as this can draw attention from the planning department.
So you may find it easier to take this approach - if the trees themselves do require permission to be altered, then it's possibly not going to make any difference though.
Cutting down TPO trees and then submitting a planning application is absolutely guaranteed to ensure that the application fails along with pretty much every subsequent application. I am astounded that a surveyor who is supposed to know what he is doing uses that methodology.
blueg33 said:
ladderino said:
My father in law is in the process of building a property at the moment - his plot was quite wooded and his plans required a number of trees to be felled.
He's a surveyor so very familiar with planning process, so he immediately felled the trees upon buying the property (he had no need to get approval to do this), and then put in the plans afterwards. This avoided the need to indicate the required felling on the plans, as this can draw attention from the planning department.
So you may find it easier to take this approach - if the trees themselves do require permission to be altered, then it's possibly not going to make any difference though.
Do NOT do this where there is a TPO or the property is in a Conservation Area. It will not end well.He's a surveyor so very familiar with planning process, so he immediately felled the trees upon buying the property (he had no need to get approval to do this), and then put in the plans afterwards. This avoided the need to indicate the required felling on the plans, as this can draw attention from the planning department.
So you may find it easier to take this approach - if the trees themselves do require permission to be altered, then it's possibly not going to make any difference though.
Cutting down TPO trees and then submitting a planning application is absolutely guaranteed to ensure that the application fails along with pretty much every subsequent application. I am astounded that a surveyor who is supposed to know what he is doing uses that methodology.
ladderino said:
My father in law is in the process of building a property at the moment - his plot was quite wooded and his plans required a number of trees to be felled.
He's a surveyor so very familiar with planning process, so he immediately felled the trees upon buying the property (he had no need to get approval to do this), and then put in the plans afterwards. This avoided the need to indicate the required felling on the plans, as this can draw attention from the planning department.
So you may find it easier to take this approach - if the trees themselves do require permission to be altered, then it's possibly not going to make any difference though.
Think this is a slightly different case to the OPs', reading the above it would appear the trees that were felled didn't have TPOs on them so he was probably OK to fell them. Had he submitted the planning application first I assume there was a chance that a TPO could have been applied to the trees and planning refused. He's a surveyor so very familiar with planning process, so he immediately felled the trees upon buying the property (he had no need to get approval to do this), and then put in the plans afterwards. This avoided the need to indicate the required felling on the plans, as this can draw attention from the planning department.
So you may find it easier to take this approach - if the trees themselves do require permission to be altered, then it's possibly not going to make any difference though.
blueg33 said:
ladderino said:
My father in law is in the process of building a property at the moment - his plot was quite wooded and his plans required a number of trees to be felled.
He's a surveyor so very familiar with planning process, so he immediately felled the trees upon buying the property (he had no need to get approval to do this), and then put in the plans afterwards. This avoided the need to indicate the required felling on the plans, as this can draw attention from the planning department.
So you may find it easier to take this approach - if the trees themselves do require permission to be altered, then it's possibly not going to make any difference though.
Do NOT do this where there is a TPO or the property is in a Conservation Area. It will not end well.He's a surveyor so very familiar with planning process, so he immediately felled the trees upon buying the property (he had no need to get approval to do this), and then put in the plans afterwards. This avoided the need to indicate the required felling on the plans, as this can draw attention from the planning department.
So you may find it easier to take this approach - if the trees themselves do require permission to be altered, then it's possibly not going to make any difference though.
Cutting down TPO trees and then submitting a planning application is absolutely guaranteed to ensure that the application fails along with pretty much every subsequent application. I am astounded that a surveyor who is supposed to know what he is doing uses that methodology.
JimM169 said:
Had he submitted the planning application first I assume there was a chance that a TPO could have been applied to the trees and planning refused.
Yes, it's exactly this - he wanted to take the trees completely out of the equation to avoid a TPO being placed on them.Given that there are TPOs on the OP's trees already, then obviously it doesn't help a huge amount - I'd just raised the point to highlight that it can help to separate out tree works from planning applications, so could be worth exploring.
Eleven said:
Is a previous breach of a TPO a valid ground for declining a current planning application?
If a tree protected by a TPO is felled, then in addition to any fine imposed, a replacement tree needs to be planted in the same location (which then gets the same TPO). So can't imagine that planning would be successful.ladderino said:
blueg33 said:
ladderino said:
My father in law is in the process of building a property at the moment - his plot was quite wooded and his plans required a number of trees to be felled.
He's a surveyor so very familiar with planning process, so he immediately felled the trees upon buying the property (he had no need to get approval to do this), and then put in the plans afterwards. This avoided the need to indicate the required felling on the plans, as this can draw attention from the planning department.
So you may find it easier to take this approach - if the trees themselves do require permission to be altered, then it's possibly not going to make any difference though.
Do NOT do this where there is a TPO or the property is in a Conservation Area. It will not end well.He's a surveyor so very familiar with planning process, so he immediately felled the trees upon buying the property (he had no need to get approval to do this), and then put in the plans afterwards. This avoided the need to indicate the required felling on the plans, as this can draw attention from the planning department.
So you may find it easier to take this approach - if the trees themselves do require permission to be altered, then it's possibly not going to make any difference though.
Cutting down TPO trees and then submitting a planning application is absolutely guaranteed to ensure that the application fails along with pretty much every subsequent application. I am astounded that a surveyor who is supposed to know what he is doing uses that methodology.
Eleven said:
Is a previous breach of a TPO a valid ground for declining a current planning application?
No. But it pisses off committees, officers and neighbours who will tend to object more voiceiferously. It causes massive grief taking trees out before an application even when they are not protected. I have learnt the hard way that when it comes to trees a and planning its best not to act like an arrogant arse.
Living in a conservation area I rang the council to see if I could remove a partially split tree that had landed on my fence. The guy came around the following day and said it wasn't a problem. He even said (unprompted) the large tree in my garden could go as well. He followed this up with written permission. I had no forms to fill in and was all free of charge....i love my Council.
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