Check before you cut: Tree Preservation Orders and conservation areas

Updated 30 September 2026

Before you, or a tree surgeon, cut down or prune a tree, check two things with your council. Is the tree covered by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO)? Is it in a conservation area? Either can mean you need permission, or have to give notice, first.

If the tree has a Tree Preservation Order

You need the council’s consent before most work, including felling, lopping, topping and uprooting. Apply through the Planning Portal or on your council’s own form. If the council hasn’t decided an application within 8 weeks, you can appeal for non-determination (GOV.UK).

If the tree is in a conservation area (but has no TPO)

You must give the council 6 weeks’ notice before most work, known as a “section 211 notice”, unless an exception applies. This gives the council time to decide whether to protect the tree with a TPO (GOV.UK). Some councils only apply this to trees above a set trunk size; Bath and North East Somerset, for example, say it covers trees with a trunk diameter of 75mm or more at 1.5m high (B&NES).

Dead or dangerous trees

Different rules apply to trees that are dead or an immediate danger, but you usually still have to tell the council first. Several councils ask for at least 5 working days’ written notice before a dead or dangerous protected tree is removed, except in a genuine emergency (for example Leeds and Somerset). Keep photos, and ask your tree surgeon to record why the work was needed.

How to check if a tree is protected

Most councils publish a map of TPOs or will answer by email:

• Bath and North East Somerset: TPO map, or the Local Land Charges Register.
• Somerset: the tree preservation page links to maps for each former district.
• City of York: interactive map, or email protected.trees@york.gov.uk (York).
• North Yorkshire: enquiry routes vary by former district area (North Yorkshire).
• Leeds (including Wetherby): online TPO map, or email landscape.planning@leeds.gov.uk (Leeds).
• East Riding: planning constraints map, or the “Find out if a tree is protected” form (East Riding).

Many tree surgeons will check this and make the application for you. Our town pages show which ones say they do.

What happens if you don’t

Cutting down, uprooting or wilfully destroying a protected tree is a criminal offence. The penalty is a fine, which is unlimited (Town and Country Planning Act 1990, s.210). Courts can take into account any financial benefit gained, for example a site that became easier to develop. Responsibility falls on whoever carried out or allowed the work, so don’t assume the tree surgeon has checked; ask.

Find a tree surgeon

Our town pages list local tree surgeons, show who is on the Environment Agency waste carrier register, and show who says they handle protected-tree applications: Somerset & Wiltshire · North & East Yorkshire.

Find a firm near you: Bridlington · Street · Chippenham · all towns