If you have a significant tree in your Berkshire or Surrey garden, there is a real chance it is protected by a Tree Preservation Order — and if it is, doing anything to it without consent could result in a fine of up to £20,000. This guide explains what TPOs are, how they work, and what to do if you want tree work done on a protected tree.
What is a Tree Preservation Order?
A Tree Preservation Order (TPO) is a legal protection made by a local planning authority under the Town and Country Planning Act. TPOs can protect individual trees, groups of trees, or areas of woodland. Once a TPO is in place, you cannot cut down, uproot, top, lop, willfully damage or willfully destroy a protected tree without first getting written consent from your local council.
How do I know if my tree has a TPO?
The easiest way is to check your local council’s online TPO map. Wokingham Borough, Reading Borough, Bracknell Forest, Windsor and Maidenhead, Slough, and West Berkshire all publish their TPO registers online. In Surrey, each borough and district council maintains its own register. Searching the council website for “TPO map” or “Tree Preservation Order register” will usually find it.
Alternatively — and the approach we always recommend — call us first. When we come out for a free site visit, we check TPO status as standard before giving you a quote. If your tree is protected, we tell you. If it needs consent, we apply for it.
What about Conservation Areas?
If your property sits within a Conservation Area, different rules apply even if there is no TPO. In a Conservation Area, you must give your local council six weeks’ written notice before carrying out most significant tree work on trees over 75mm diameter measured 1.5m from the ground. The council can then either confirm the work is acceptable or make a TPO to prevent it.
Berkshire and Surrey have a large number of Conservation Areas — almost every historic town and many villages are covered. If you are unsure whether your property is in a Conservation Area, the local council website will have a map, or you can ask us when we come out.
What work is exempt from TPO consent?
Some work is exempt from TPO consent even on protected trees. Removing dead branches, removing a tree that poses an immediate risk to life, and certain utility company works are exempt. Fruit trees in domestic gardens that are protected by a TPO can also be pruned in accordance with good horticultural practice. However, these exemptions are narrow and the burden of proof is on you — so if in doubt, apply for consent first. An application is free and consent is often granted quickly for routine maintenance work.
Applying for consent: what to expect
A TPO consent application is submitted to the local planning authority and must include details of the work proposed and the reason for it. The authority has eight weeks to respond. In our experience, applications for genuine arboricultural work — crown reduction to BS3998, removal of a dead or dangerous tree — are usually approved, sometimes with conditions on timing or replacement planting.
We handle TPO applications for our clients as part of the job. Once we have given you a quote, we submit the application and you do not need to engage with the process. When consent comes through, we schedule the work.
The bottom line
TPOs exist to protect trees that matter to local character and amenity. Working with them rather than around them is always the right approach — and the only legal one. If you have a tree you want work done on, call us first. We will check the status, tell you what is needed, and handle everything from there.