jonrob

Joe, yeah, I think you're right - the more I think about it the more I think that this condition is unenforceable. I can't think of anything that the TO could do to us or the tree owner if we did burn on site - especially if we are burning diseased material.

I kind of agree, but it's still the advice given by Forest Research, so maybe there's some reason for it?

They've included it as a condition as part of a TPO decision note. I'm not sure happens if you disobey these conditions, what could the council do about it I wonder?

Haha, maybe its your fault then - only joking. We've got different TO's now. We didn't request fires, but the council still put it in as a condition that we can't have one.

Yeah, it is. 🤣

It'd be breaking a condition of approval to do works to a TPO tree.

A tree officer should already know about this sort of thing, shouldn't they? It's a bit worrying if they don't. But I did show them, several times. Makes no difference.

Hi all, We've had a few decisions back from Kirklees with the condition that arisings can't be burned on site. These were for trees with Ash Die Back and Horse Chestnut Bleeding Canker. I've had a look at the latest guidance and it seems that Ash Die Back and Horse Chestnut Bleeding Canker arising should be burned on site to prevent the spread of disease. BS39998 says that arisings shouldn't generally be burned on site except where it is done to prevent the spread of disease. What's your thoughts? Cheers, John

PPG and primary legislation says nothing about there being any need to provide evidence that I'm owner/agent or whatever... All that's required is sufficient particulars to identify the tree. So I think we can just get on with the work. We've had similar problems in the past, it went straight to a 3rd stage complaint (missing out stages 1 and 2) and we were told that we were right - backed up by a recent decision on someone else's land by the ombudsmen. Bizarrely, nothing has changed though. It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to prove— (a)that he served notice of his intention to do the act in question (with sufficient particulars to identify the tree) on the local planning authority in whose area the tree is or was situated; and (b)that he did the act in question— (i)with the consent of the local planning authority in whose area the tree is or was situated, or (ii)after the expiry of the period of six weeks from the date of the notice but before the expiry of the period of two years from that date. What form should a section 211 notice take? A section 211 notice does not have to be in any particular form. It may be helpful to use the standard application form for work to trees protected by an Order (available from the Planning Portal) as a section 211 notice, but the authority cannot insist on this. What information should be in a section 211 notice? A section 211 notice must describe the work proposed and include sufficient particulars to identify the tree or trees. Where a number of trees or operations are involved, it should make clear what work is proposed to which tree. A notice must include the date it is submitted. A plan is not mandatory but can be helpful. Sufficient information in a section 211 notice will help the local authority to verify that the proposed work, if undertaken, has not been exceeded and support enforcement action if appropriate. People should not submit a section 211 notice until they are in a position to present clear proposals. They should consider first discussing their ideas with an arboriculturist or the authority’s tree officer.

Hi everyone, I've been discussing my recent experiences with this local authority on other forums, and it has been a very interesting experience. So I thought I'd start share them on here too. What are your thoughts? Note: Sorry about the formatting - I copied and pasted the text below and it looked ok before, it's gone a bit weird here and I don't know how to sort it out yet. Cheers, John My colleague received this today in response to a S211 notice, "The S211 notice submitted cannot be registered as it does not meet the requirements of the Planning Practice Guidance and we are therefore returning your notice. Please re-submit your notice with more information if you wish it to be registered. The notice must include whether you are acting as an agent, and in which case on whose behalf, and please provide a full name and address. If acting as landowner please provide evidence of your ownership or legal interest in the land where the trees are situated." To give you context the S211 notice was as follows; "Good morning, This is an S211 notification of intention to undertake works to a tree in a conservation area. The tree is located at xxxx and is labelled as T1 on the attached map. The tree is a weeping ash which is going to be removed because it has advanced ash die-back disease. Kind regards, xxxx"