Restrictions to Tree and Hedge Work

Tree and Hedge Preservation Orders
Conservation Areas
Planning Conditions
Nesting

Tree and Hedge Preservation Orders
Sometimes a tree or hedge will have a preservation order placed on it. This means that no work can be carried out on it without the written permission of the District or County Council (depending on the exact type of Preservation Order).

Totally Trees can go through the application process for you at no extra cost. The process generally takes around 8 weeks from the council’s receipt of the application.

Conservation Areas
If a tree is located in a conservation area, no work can be carried out on it (unless it is below a certain size or a fruit tree) without the prior consent of the District Council.

Totally Trees can go through the application process for you at no extra cost. The process generally takes around 6 weeks from the council’s receipt of the application.

If a tree is dead, dying or dangerous, we only have to give the council a very short period of notice.

Planning Conditions
Most newer houses have planning conditions placed on them. This means that before any tree work can be done, we need permission from the District Council. In most cases, this is just a matter of an email, and sometimes a short visit from the council, and can be organised in a matter of a day or two.

Nesting
It is illegal to disturb nesting birds (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981), and as a result it is not always possible to fell or prune certain types of tree at certain times of year. For example, it is very difficult to tell if there are nesting birds in many varieties of conifer due to how bushy they are, so we do not prune or fell them during the nesting season (generally mid March to mid August).