Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) Explained

A significant fraction of every council's planning caseload is nothing to do with new buildings — it is applications to prune, reduce, or fell a single tree. That is because two overlapping rules protect trees in England: Tree Preservation Orders, and the automatic protection given to trees in a conservation area. This guide untangles the two.

What a Tree Preservation Order is

A Tree Preservation Order (TPO) is a legal instrument made by a local planning authority to protect a specific tree, group of trees, or woodland. It makes it a criminal offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, or wilfully damage the tree without the council's written consent. Fines for unauthorised work run into the tens of thousands of pounds, and in serious cases the courts can order the value of the timber to be repaid.

TPOs are usually made because a tree contributes visibly to the character of an area, or because a tree the council would like to keep is under threat — commonly when a planning application indicates the tree might be removed. Once made, a TPO does not expire.

What a TPO application asks for

Because pruning or felling a protected tree without consent is a criminal offence, owners must apply. A TPO application (references usually start with TPO) sets out:

• Which tree — labelled T1, T2, G1 (for groups), etc.
• What work is proposed — for example, "crown reduce by 25%", "remove epicormic growth", "fell and replant".
• Why — decay, storm damage, subsidence claims, safety, or routine management.

The council has eight weeks to decide. Refusal must be justified and the applicant can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. In many cases the officer negotiates a lighter specification with the owner rather than refusing outright.

Trees in a conservation area

Trees in a conservation area with a trunk diameter over 75mm at 1.5m above ground level are automatically protected — no TPO is needed. Anyone wanting to work on such a tree must give the council six weeks' written notice (a Section 211 notice). References for these usually contain S211.

During those six weeks the council can either say nothing (in which case the work can go ahead) or make a TPO to protect the tree permanently. This is why S211 notices are worth watching — they are the trigger point at which the council decides whether to give a tree long-term protection.

How to object to tree work

Objections should focus on the tree itself, not the owner:

• Amenity — visibility from public places, contribution to the street scene, screening of unattractive features.
• Ecological value — mature trees supporting birds, bats or invertebrates.
• Historic significance — trees that predate surrounding development or that are recorded as veterans.
• Alternatives — if felling is proposed, whether a lighter reduction would achieve the same aim.

Objections that focus on the identity of the owner, boundary disputes, or dislike of pruning in principle are not material and will not affect the decision.

What counts as a proper reason to remove a tree

Councils weigh benefit to the applicant against public amenity. Reasons that regularly justify consent include:

• Structural damage to a building where an arboricultural report supports the link.
• Advanced disease or decay documented by a qualified arboriculturist.
• Genuine safety risk from dead limbs or unstable form.
• Necessary work to enable an approved development.

Blocking light to a garden, dropping leaves, or being in the way of a new driveway rarely, on their own, justify felling a protected tree.

Replacement planting

If a protected tree is removed with consent (or without), the owner is under a legal duty to plant a replacement of similar size and species in the same place, as soon as reasonably possible. The replacement automatically inherits the same protection.