Tree Preservation Orders in Kent: A Practical Guide

Kent has one of the highest concentrations of Tree Preservation Orders in England. If you own property in Kent or South East London (particularly in areas with established gardens, woodland or significant mature trees) there's a reasonable chance at least one of your trees is protected. Here's what that means in practice.

What Is a Tree Preservation Order?

A Tree Preservation Order (TPO) is a legal instrument made by a local planning authority (LPA) to protect specific trees or groups of trees. Once a TPO is in place, you cannot cut down, top, lop, uproot, willfully damage or willfully destroy the protected tree without first obtaining consent from the council. Doing so is a criminal offence.

TPOs can apply to individual trees, groups of trees, areas of woodland, or a specific category of tree on a site. They're registered on the local planning authority's database and are a local land charge, meaning they transfer with the property when it's sold.

Conservation Areas

Even if your tree doesn't have a specific TPO, if it's within a Conservation Area it is still protected. You must give the council six weeks' written notice before carrying out any work on a tree with a trunk diameter greater than 75mm (measured at 1.5m from ground level). The council can use this period to make a TPO if they consider the tree significant enough.

Conservation Areas are common across Kent: Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich all have multiple designated areas. If you're unsure whether your property falls within one, check your local council's planning portal.

What Requires Consent?

• Felling a protected tree
• Crown reduction: reducing the overall size of the crown
• Crown lifting: removing lower branches to raise the crown base
• Crown thinning: removing branches within the crown
• Pollarding
• Any significant pruning work
• Root works that could materially affect the tree

What Does Not Require Consent?

There are limited exemptions. Work can be carried out without consent when:

• The tree is dead, dying or dangerous, though you should notify the council as soon as reasonably practical and keep evidence of the condition
• The work is necessary to prevent or reduce a risk of injury or property damage in an emergency
• The tree is causing a statutory nuisance
• The work is required for a development that has already received planning permission which specifically refers to the tree

Even in exempt cases, carrying out unnecessary work or using the exemption as a loophole to remove a tree you simply don't want is an offence. Councils take this seriously.

How to Apply for Consent

Applications for consent to carry out works on a protected tree are made to your local planning authority. In Kent, this is typically the district or borough council rather than Kent County Council. The application is free of charge.

A good application should include:

• A clear description of the proposed work (not just "prune", but specific about the type of work, the extent of reduction, and why it is needed)
• The reason for the work: amenity, safety, health of the tree
• A site plan showing the tree location
• Supporting arboricultural evidence if the application is for removal

The council has eight weeks to determine an application. They can grant consent with or without conditions, or refuse it. If they refuse, you have the right to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

How We Can Help

We carry out TPO work regularly across Kent and South East London on behalf of homeowners, commercial clients, local authorities and estate managers. We can advise on whether consent is likely to be granted, help you frame an application clearly, and carry out any approved works to the correct British Standard (BS 3998).

We don't carry out works on protected trees without sight of the consent. If you're not sure whether your tree is protected, ask us: checking the council's register takes minutes and could save you a significant fine.

“The fines for unlawful work on a protected tree are unlimited. We've seen homeowners face prosecution for work carried out by unqualified contractors who didn't bother to check. It's always worth asking the question first.”

Jack, Founder, I Am Lumberjack