Tree Preservation Orders and Conservation Areas are an important tool in protecting trees and preserving the look of an area or space.

They can, however, create problems for TPO tree owners who find that their tree has outgrown its space, is causing excessive shading or just in need of some maintenance.

A Tree Preservation Order is an order made by a local planning authority in England to protect specific trees, groups of trees or woodlands in the interests of amenity. An order prohibits the following activites against TPO trees without the local planning authority’s written consent:

• TPO tree removal
• Topping
• Lopping
• Uprooting
• Willful damage
• Willful destruction

If consent is given based on the tree survey, it can be subject to conditions which have to be followed. In the Secretary of State’s view, cutting roots is also a prohibited activity as a result of root protection areas and requires the authority’s consent.

Conservation areas exist to manage and protect areas that are deemed to be special or of historic value. There are now over 10,000 in England alone.

If you want to do any work to a tree that has a stem that measures 7.5 centimetres in diameter, measured 1.5 metres above the ground in a conservation area you must notify your local planning authority six weeks before work begins. The authority will then consider the contribution the tree makes to the character of the area and if necessary, create a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) to protect it.

Lally Tree Management are highly qualified arboricultural consultant company in Manchester with extensive experience applying for works on trees that are subject to a Tree Preservation Order or stand within a Conservation Area. Call or email today for some free advice.