woodland trees in TPO/Conservation area

[Max Power]

It is my understanding that trees which have grown after a TPO was made will not be covered by the TPO. I have a small area of woodland which is covered by an area TPO (not specific to the woodland) and wish to remove some self seeded Sycamores. The area is however in a conservation area , what are the rules on this?

[woodyguy]

From the government leaflet on tpo's

What is a Woodland TPO?

A Woodland TPO protects all trees within the defined area, including natural regeneration - seedlings

and saplings ie. trees less than 3.5m in height are not excluded.

[daltontrees]

First posting, eh?

[Max Power]

Yes Jules first post

Its not a woodland TPO though Woodguy. Its a standard TPO which covers the whole area the woodland sits in, but how does the conservation area status impact

[Spacey]

Best course of action is to talk to the tree officer who covers the area that your woodland is in. A site visit is probably best, so the tree officer can see what your intentions are and then they can advise accordingly.

 

Hope this helps.

[daltontrees]

As long as you know that asking nicely will greatly help your chances of good quality answers. If you want to develop a meaningful online personality on Arbtalk, politesse is effective. But then, I am over 30 and politesse these days seems to count for nothing except engaging the attention of old-timers like me.

 

I have just spent about 5 minute giving your question my undivided attention. An answer that covers most situations you describe is fairly easy, but an answer that covers every situation you describe is complex beyond stating here. So I am gong to suggest some general principles, but don't hold me to them being valid to every situation.

 

Firstly, there is a general exemption for felling small trees about 3 inches diameter. 4 inches if it is beng done to thin and improve growth.

 

Secondly, if you have a TPO in Conservation Area the amenity importance of the trees has already been decided. In most senses you can ignore the CA status and concentrate on the TPO status.

 

Thirdly, group TPos include self-seeders. I recall that Area TPOs and indiviual tree TPOs are there to deal with the amenity provided by trees rather than the collective amenity of woodlands or groups of trees where the individuality of each constituent trees is not crucial.

 

Personally I'd be taking the initial view that thinning or removal of small self-seeders within a groupTPO is exempt from regulation, but it always helps to tell the Council that before you rev up... the Council wil get the calls and will be on your side if they know the context

[Max Power]

Thanks Jules. These are fairly mature trees but would not have been there when the Tpo was made, so it is my understanding that the TPO will not cover them, so could legally be felled. Does the fact that they are also in a conservation area change this ?

I will speak to the council once I'm aware of the legal position.

[daltontrees]

Does the fact that they are also in a conservation area change this ?

 

This was what I meant by there being no general answer. Large self-seeders in a Group TPO could be lawfully covered by CA status, and probably are if a safe persumption is needed.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Jules, remember I had a question a while back regarding TPO / Felling Licence which you and Gary commented on (probably lost in the mists of time!) (I still have to summarise that scenario and offer for forum comment but for now it's still an ongoing scenario.)

 

The upshot was, I had TPO'd trees that, due to the volume, and in the absence of FL exemptions, were subject to the FL application procedure.

 

In that case I had already gained LA approval for TPO consent to fell, but on reading up the FL requirement I found that I could have gone direct to FC for felling licence rather than LA for TPO application. Granted, FC will liaise with LA where TPOs exist, but it may be a less 'admin' heavy route by going direct to FC.

 

I also found that where an application for TPO work via LA may result in a replanting condition, according to Mynors, a FL application (on safety reasons) does not confer the same authority to FC to apply the replanting condition.

 

For OP, don't forget Forestry Commission Felling Licence requirement if you plan to exceed the permitted ¼ yearly felling volumes and the FC exemptions don't apply.

 

Kevin

[Chris at eden]

Area TPO's only cover what was present when the order was made. Woodland designations cover all the regen. Where is it listed on the first schedule? On the plan areas are shown as a dotted outline and woodlands with a continuous outline.

 

The CA may also cover the trees but are you sure the woodland is located in a CA? This is not the norm in my experience. CA's are usually based around listed buildings. Wildlife conservation areas such as SAC's are not the same thing. Just a thought. Anyway, the CA would cover anything which has a diameter of greater than 75mm. But you can remove trees up to 100mm if it benefits other trees. E.g. forestry thinning.

 

The forestry act also protects trees but is often forgotten. You can remove up to 5 cubic metres in a calendar quarter as long as you don't sell more than 2. Any more than this, you need a felling licence. I see this catch people out on a regular basis as it does not just apply to forests. For example, if you were taking out a load of trees on an industrial estate you would probably need a felling licence from FC. Unless there was an exemption of course.