Let's suppose you like trees.
What can we do to make sure that vital
(both aesthetically and biologically)
trees are not intentionally damaged or destroyed,
for whatever REASON!

Tree Preservation Orders (T.P.O.s)
Where the Local Planning Authority (LPA); in our case WILTSHIRE Council, consider that an individual tree is worthy of protection against damage and/or destruction, it can make a T.P.O

Now the Tree Protection Officer doesn’t wander around the district looking for trees to protect. In most cases, members of the public contact him if they feel that a tree needs protecting.

Usually it’s someone else's tree! After all, you aren’t going to want to cut down your own tree are you?

But of course you might. Trees have a habit of growing. They may start to undermine your house foundations, block out the sun or get in the way of a new conservatory.

Even the best specimens need maintenance eventually.  Lopping and Pruning them also needs consent! So before getting the saw out, if your tree is protected, check with the tree protection officer first!

Instead of a having individual trees subject to a Tree Preservation Order (TPO), CONSERVATION AREAS have a ‘blanket cover’ on mature trees within that area. (See down the page as what constitutes a ‘mature tree’)
Breaches of the regulations can incur a fine of £20,000 in a Magistrate’s Court, and in the Crown Court it’s unlimited !

"I love my tree!"

TREES
in
Conservation
Areas

Click here for a description
of the
BOX CONSERVATION AREA

JUST WHAT IS A ‘TREE’ ?

For the purposes of these regulations a TREE is one where the trunk exceeds 75 millimetres
(three inches in old money) in DIAMETER - not circumference!)

This measurement is to be taken 1½  metres (5 feet) up the trunk from natural ground level

THE LEGAL BIT!
Town and Country Planning (Trees) Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999 No. 1892)
Preservation of trees in a Conservation Area  - Section 211

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and section 212, any person who, in relation to a tree to which this section applies, does any act which might by virtue of Section 198 (3) (a) be prohibited.

(2) Subject to section 212, this section applies to any tree in a conservation area in respect of which no tree preservation order is for the time being in force

(3) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under sub-section (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.
(4)  Section 210 shall apply to an offence under this section as it applies to a contravention of a tree
       preservation order.
 

BOX PARISH COUNCIL PROVIDES THIS INFORMATION TO BE HELPFUL !
IT IS NOT TO BE RELIED UPON AND READERS ARE ADVISED TO SEEK ADVICE FROM WILTSHIRE COUNCIL BEFORE TAKING ANY ACTION