Dangerous, diseased and dead trees

If you are the owner of a tree protected by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) or in a Conservation Area and you wish to do works to it because it is dead, you must first provide the Council with written notice including sufficient information.

To seek the Council's consent to work on dead tree, please send the following to the council in writing (ideally by email so that we can respond to you as quickly as possible)

• Your name and contact details
• The location of the tree(s) (address and description)
• A brief description (for example - dead tree)
• A plan clearly showing the location of the tree(s) in relation to other features/trees and a named road
• The species of the tree(s)

Any tree which is protected and allowed to be felled under a 5 days notification is required by the legislation to be replaced.  Any replacement tree will automatically be covered by the original Tree Preservation Order.  You may be asked  to supply the details of a replacement tree during the notification period, you can if you wish supply this information when submitting the above information.

Once we have received the required information we will inform you that the 5 days notice period has begun. During this time consent may be granted or refused. If you receive confirmation that the 5 days period has begun and then do not hear from us within the 5 days, we would advise you to contact us prior to commencing any works. Any decision will be given in writing.

If a dangerous tree (TPO or Conservation Area) poses an immediate risk of serious harm, so that it requires urgent work, you should take photos as evidence, contract a tree surgeon to do only what work is necessary to remove the immediate risk and give the Council written notice as soon as possible. If a tree is believed to be dangerous but does not match the above description in italics, a full tree application should be submitted.

If your protected tree (TPO or Conservation Area) poses an immediate risk of serious harm, so that it requires urgent work, you should take photos as evidence, contract a tree surgeon to do only what work is necessary to remove the immediate risk and give the Council written notice as soon as possible. Further information about exempt works to protected trees can be found on the Government website under Tree Preservation Orders and trees in Conservation Areas.