The power to make a TPO is contained in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Town and County Planning (Trees) Regulations 1999 and 2008. There can be many reasons why a local authority would issue a tree preservation order. They are issued by a local town and country planning department to protect trees. It may only be a single tree or a group of trees or as much as a woodland of trees they are issued to protect the trees from damage or destruction, felling and wilful damage to trees.
A council can usually obtain an emergency Tree Preservation Order very quickly and within 24 hours to prevent damage of wilful destruction or uprooting of trees that are in danger. In some area a Tree Preservation Order can be made for trees that stand in the way of a building development and planning permission for the construction will be denied is will not be able to go ahead. This only happens if the tree or trees make a significant contribution to the local surroundings.
Contravening a Tree Preservation Order can have grave implications if convicted in a magistrate’s court they can have a fine of up to £20,000, if the offence if deemed to be heard in a crown court then the person convicted can be issued with an unlimited fine. If you suspect that anyone is in contravention of a Tree Preservation Order then you should be able to find out if the tree has a preservation order on it by contacting your local council where they have records of every Tree Preservation Order issued in their locality.
Before a tree or group of trees can be issued with a Tree Preservation Order an assessment has to be made of the trees and the local surrounding area, if it deemed that a Tree Preservation Order should be issued then there will 28 days in which to object to the order if you so wish. On the other hand if you support this Tree Preservation Order then you also have 28 days in which to submit your support as well.
Get in touch with Arbtech if you are looking for information on a tree preservation order !