Particulars of the notice
- What it is
- A section 211 notice of intended works, Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Not a permit and not an application for consent
- Who receives it
- Ashford Borough Council, the local planning authority for Tenterden, St Michaels, Smallhythe and the surrounding Weald villages
- Notice period
- Six weeks before the work starts
- Fee
- None, according to the Planning Portal
- Size test
- Trunk over 75mm across, measured over the bark at 1.5m above the ground (100mm only when thinning to help other trees grow)
- Council's options
- Make a Tree Preservation Order, say the work can go ahead, or let the six weeks lapse. It cannot refuse you or attach conditions
- After six weeks
- You can do the work described, within 2 years of the date of the notice
- Urgent tree works
- Where a tree is an immediate risk of serious harm, do only the work needed to remove the risk and give the council written notice as soon as practicable afterwards
- Penalty for skipping it
- Up to £20,000 in the magistrates' court, unlimited in the Crown Court, plus a duty to replant
Which trees need notice?
The test is size and whether the plant is a tree, not the species. Leylandii, laurel, hornbeam, beech, field maple, ash, oak and sycamore are judged alike, whether evergreen or deciduous, native or not. In the Weald that most often catches a field maple, ash or oak that has grown up through an old mixed hedge.
| What you have | Notice? |
|---|---|
| Trunk over 75mm across at 1.5m | Yes. Six weeks before cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, or wilfully damaging or destroying. |
| Trunk 75mm across or under | No, for cutting down, topping, lopping or uprooting. |
| Thinning solely to improve the growth of other trees | 100mm rather than 75mm is the limit for cutting down or uprooting. Unusual in a garden. |
| Several stems from one base | Exemptions fail if any stem is over the limit at 1.5m. Measure every stem. |
| Hawthorn, holly, laurel or privet clipped as a hedge | Hedge plants are not trees here. Ordinary trimming needs no notice. |
| An old hedge that has grown into a line of trees | May count as trees. Measure the stems, ask the council if unsure. |
| Dead tree | Five working days' written notice before the work, not six weeks. |
| Immediate risk of serious harm | Act, then give written notice as soon as practicable. |
| Fruit trees pruned for fruit in line with good horticultural practice | Exempt for that pruning. |
| Work required by an Act of Parliament, or to carry out a granted planning permission | Generally exempt; confirm with the council. |
| Tree under a TPO | Different route: apply for consent. |
How to measure. Run a tape round the trunk 1.5m up and divide by 3.14. About 236mm (23.6cm) round is the 75mm line.
Worked example. Suppose an old mixed hedge behind a house in the town centre, hawthorn and hazel with a field maple grown up through it. The tape round the maple reads 58cm: 58 divided by 3.14 is 18.5cm, so 185mm across, well over the line, so notice is needed. The hawthorn stems read about 15cm round, roughly 48mm across, so trimming them needs no notice.
Light trimming of hedge plants does not normally trigger notice. Pruning, lopping, topping, felling, uprooting or wilfully damaging a qualifying tree does. The Hedgerow Regulations 1997 are a separate regime for removing countryside hedgerows.
The eight steps
Step 1: check your address is in a conservation area
Ashford has 43 conservation areas, and its conservation areas page explains how to find yours on the interactive map: tick the conservation area box and zoom to your street. For this side of the borough the council's own listing includes Tenterden (designated 10 October 1996), St. Michaels, Smallhythe, Rolvenden, Rolvenden Layne, Wittersham, High Halden and Biddenden. A property just outside one is not covered, so check by address, not by village name.
Step 2: apply the size test, then check for a TPO
Measure as above. Then look for Tree Preservation Orders on the same map; the council's TPO page explains how, and its public register page lets you look up tree applications. A TPO overrides the conservation area rule.
Step 3: decide the work and photograph it
Choose a specific operation: crown lift to a stated height, reduction by a stated amount, or removal of one named limb. Ashford says photographs with the works drawn on can very often speed up processing. Photograph from two sides.
Step 4: gather the details
The Planning Portal lists a sketch map of tree locations against boundaries, buildings and neighbouring properties, the tree type and condition, your interest in the tree, and a description of the work. Label trees T1, T2. One notice can cover several trees and operations.
Step 5: submit it
Ashford asks you to use the online tree works application through the Planning Portal. Choose "Notification of Proposed Works to Trees in Conservation Areas" from the Portal's Works to Trees page, after reading the council's trees in conservation areas page. Keep the confirmation: its date starts the six weeks and the two years.
Step 6: the six weeks
Ashford says it will acknowledge your application, visit the tree if it thinks it necessary, and write to you within six weeks. If it is content it says so; if not, it says it will make a TPO, and you would then apply for consent under it. Do not start early unless the council consents in writing.
Step 7: after the six weeks
With no TPO, you can do the work described within 2 years of the date of the notice, and only that work. Use a competent, insured contractor and keep the paperwork.
The notice does not cover nesting birds
Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to intentionally damage or destroy an active nest, whatever the council says. The Act sets no calendar dates; 1 March to 31 August is the accepted guidance window for nesting birds, extending into September for late broods. The risk in Tenterden is farmland and garden birds in mixed hedgerow.
Step 8: dead, dangerous or storm-damaged trees
For a dead tree the GOV.UK guidance says to give the council five working days' written notice before the work, with evidence that the tree is dead (photographs or a tree surgeon's report help). If a tree is an immediate risk of serious harm, only the work needed to remove that risk should be done, and written notice is required as soon as practicable after the work becomes necessary. Keep photographs and any expert report as evidence. A tree removed because it was dead or dangerous still carries a duty to replant.
What to write in the notice
There is no set form, but the notice must describe the work and identify the trees. A typical Tenterden case:
Address: [your address], Tenterden, in the Tenterden conservation area.
T1: Field maple growing through the rear mixed hedge, about 9m tall, trunk about 185mm across at 1.5m (58cm tape reading). Crown lift to 3m over the path and remove one limb over the neighbour's shed, keeping the natural shape.
Hedge: hawthorn and hazel, stems under 50mm, routine trimming only, no notice needed.
Reason: the limb is rubbing on the shed roof and the low branches block the path.
Attached: sketch map and photographs with the works drawn on.
Date of notice: [today].
Related guides
Not sure which trees in your hedge need notice?
Send me your postcode and photos and I will tell you which trees in the hedge would need notice and which would not. Where notice is needed I file the section-211 notice for you at no extra charge, and I do the pruning once the six weeks have passed. I prune and reduce; I do not fell trees or grind stumps. hello@tenterdenhedges.co.uk or 07763 100 477, or WhatsApp.
Sources: Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 211 (legislation.gov.uk); GOV.UK, Tree Preservation Orders and trees in conservation areas; Planning Portal, Works to Trees; Ashford Borough Council trees in conservation areas, tree preservation orders and conservation areas pages, and its open-data conservation area listing (Tenterden, designated 10 October 1996); Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1. Check the council's current pages before you submit.