Yes, in almost all cases you do. If a tree stands in a conservation area, you must give the council six weeks written notice before felling it or carrying out most other works. Starting without that notice can lead to penalties that include unlimited fines, so it is never a step to skip. This article is general information, not legal advice, and the final word on any tree always rests with your council.
What a conservation area means for trees
Many people assume a tree is only protected if it has a Tree Preservation Order. Inside a conservation area that assumption is wrong. Trees within the area are covered by their own rule: the council must be given six weeks written notice before works go ahead, even when no order has ever been made on the tree itself.
The point of the notice is to give the council time to look at the tree and decide whether it should be kept. Nothing about the tree needs to look special for the rule to apply, and it covers pruning as well as felling, so it is safest to assume notice is needed and to check with your council if you think your case is an exception.
If the tree also has a Tree Preservation Order, the notice route is not the right one. TPO trees need the council’s consent, which is a separate application. Your council can confirm which situation you are in.
How the six weeks written notice works
The process itself is straightforward:
- Put it in writing. Tell the council which tree you mean and exactly what you want to do to it.
- Wait six weeks. The works cannot start during the notice period.
- Proceed only if the council raises no objection. Anything different from what you described falls outside the notice, so check with the council before going any further.
Councils handle the detail in slightly different ways, so confirm the process with yours before sending anything in.
What happens if the council objects
If the council wants to keep the tree, it can place a Tree Preservation Order on it. Once an order is in place, the tree needs council consent for works, and consent can be refused. In other words, the notice period is not a formality. It is the council’s genuine opportunity to protect a tree it wants to keep.
It is also worth being clear about what happens when the rules are ignored. Penalties for unauthorised works on protected trees can include unlimited fines. That is why we always advise checking a tree’s status before any work is planned, priced or booked.
How to check before you plan anything
Two checks are worth making before you get as far as planning the work.
Is the tree protected?
Councils hold the definitive registers of protected trees, so the council is always the final word. For a quick first pass, our free protected tree checker reads the national planning dataset and gives an indicative answer. It is indicative only: if anything is unclear, or the stakes are high, go to the council’s own register before acting.
Whose tree is it?
A tree belongs to the land its trunk stands on, wherever its branches happen to reach. If a neighbour’s tree overhangs your garden, you may usually cut the overhanging branches back to the boundary, but not when the tree is protected. In a conservation area, that means checking first, every time.
Where we fit in
Our surveyors work on protected trees across Preston, Lancashire and the North West from our base at Freshfield Farm in Freckleton. Landowners owe a duty of care for their trees, and a proper survey tells you what condition a tree is in and what, if anything, it actually needs. That is often the sensible first step before any notice goes to the council. You can read more about our tree surveys, and survey visits happen within days, not weeks.
The survey stands on its own. It is priced and delivered independently, the findings are what the trees need and nothing else, and you are free to take the report to any contractor you choose. If you would then like us to do the work, we can: Great Oaks is an ARB Approved Contractor (AC2637), Constructionline Gold registered, and our survey work is backed by £1m professional indemnity insurance. Quotes come back within one working day, and the price we quote is the price you pay.
If you are weighing up work on a tree in a conservation area and want a straight answer on where to start, fill in the free scope check form on our tree surveys page or call the office on 07884 274693. Our qualified team will tell you plainly what your tree’s status means and what, if anything, needs to happen next.
