What Is a Tree Preservation Order?
A Tree Preservation Order (TPO) is a legal order made by a local planning authority to protect specific trees, groups of trees, or woodlands. TPOs prevent the cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, or wilful damage of protected trees without written consent.
TPOs are made under Part VIII of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. An authority can make a TPO if it considers it “expedient in the interests of amenity” to preserve trees in their area. In practice, the trees must be visible to the public and contribute positively to the local landscape.
TPOs can apply to trees of any species, size, or age. However, they cannot protect hedgerows, bushes, or shrubs.
Types of TPO
- Individual
- Protects a single, specifically identified tree. This is the most common type.
- Group
- Protects a group of trees as a collective feature. Individual trees within the group may not merit protection alone, but together they form an important landscape feature.
- Area
- Provides blanket protection to all trees within a defined area. Originally intended as a short-term measure while surveying individual trees, but many older area orders remain in force.
- Woodland
- Protects an entire woodland, including trees that naturally regenerate or are planted within the boundary in the future. The most comprehensive type.
What you cannot do without consent
- Cut down a protected tree
- Top or lop branches
- Uproot a tree
- Cut or damage roots
- Wilfully damage or destroy a protected tree
What you can do without consent
- Remove dead branches from a living tree (give your planning authority five days' notice)
- Remove a dead tree entirely (five days' notice required)
- Carry out urgent work to remove an immediate risk of serious harm (give notice as soon as practicable after the work)
- Comply with a legal obligation required by an Act of Parliament
- Carry out work authorised by planning permission
Penalties
Carrying out prohibited work on a TPO-protected tree without consent is a criminal offence.
- Destroying a protected tree (cutting down, uprooting, or wilfully destroying it): an unlimited fine.
- Other unauthorised work (topping, lopping, wilful damage): a fine of up to £2,500.
If a protected tree is removed or destroyed, the landowner has a legal duty to plant a replacement tree of an appropriate size and species. The replacement is automatically protected by the same TPO.
How to apply for consent
- Complete the standard application form (available from your planning authority or the Planning Portal).
- Include a description of the proposed work, reasons, a site plan, and any supporting evidence.
- Submit to your local planning authority. There is no fee.
- The authority has eight weeks to make a decision.
- If refused, or if no decision is made within eight weeks, you can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.
Provisional vs confirmed TPOs
A new TPO takes effect immediately when made, even before it is formally confirmed. This prevents trees being felled pre-emptively.
- Provisional TPO: Takes effect on the date made. The authority must allow at least 28 days for objections.
- Confirmed TPO: After considering objections, the authority confirms the order. Must be confirmed within six months or it expires.
Once confirmed, a TPO remains in effect indefinitely. It stays attached to the land, not the owner, and continues to apply when a property changes hands.
Trees in conservation areas
Trees in conservation areas have a separate layer of protection, even without a TPO. Anyone proposing to cut down or carry out work on a tree in a conservation area must give the planning authority six weeks' notice. This gives the authority time to consider whether a TPO should be made.