protectable tree?

[villager]

Concerned about the probability of a walnut tree in next doors garden being cut down when the old lady dies. Getting quite used to finding shells lying around our garden and the squirrel hopping along the fence.
Is it possible to get a protection order for a walnut tree?

[Tursiops2]

Hi villager, welcome to WAB
Contact your Local Authority's Tree Officer, it might well justify a Tree Preservation Order. Good luck
T2

[Darley]

Read this: Naturenet: Tree Preservation Orders

If the tree does not have a TPO, you can write to your council to ask for one.

Point of interest: many local authorities have a habit of cutting down any tree they deem to be a risk to public health or any building nearby (eg from subsidence) whether or not there is a TPO in place. Ultimately they have the power to decide a tree's fate, and if they want a tree down they will cut it down - no matter how worthy the tree or how many people object.

[Morph]

Isn't there some kind of planning permission required before a tree is brought down ?

[Poirot]

Originally Posted by Darley

Read this: Naturenet: Tree Preservation Orders

If the tree does not have a TPO, you can write to your council to ask for one.

Point of interest: many local authorities have a habit of cutting down any tree they deem to be a risk to public health or any building nearby (eg from subsidence) whether or not there is a TPO in place. Ultimately they have the power to decide a tree's fate, and if they want a tree down they will cut it down - no matter how worthy the tree or how many people object.

tree preservation orders only work if the councils enforce them, we had a huge chestnut tree where i live with a tpo on and they were building houses nearby, so they could get their diggers in they cut it down. Did the council do anything no. I understand the police have better things to do i just wish the council took tpo's seriously.

Whats the point in having them if they are not enforced?

[Dan Salter]

Can you put tpo's on non natives though? (walnut, horse chestnut?)

You may be able to im not sure....

[Poirot]

Originally Posted by Dan Salter

Can you put tpo's on non natives though? (walnut, horse chestnut?)

You may be able to im not sure....

yes you can put them on non native trees, read the tpo criteria in the link darley sent or read an extract from it below.

Poirot

"Not all trees are protected, and, despite 'urban myths' to the contrary no particular species or size of tree are protected. To be protected, a tree must meet one or more of these three conditions:

A Tree Preservation Order or TPO has been made at some time to cover that tree;
A planning condition has been made at some time to cover that tree;
The tree is within a conservation area (in fact, this one is not strictly protection but merely requires that the owner gives notice to the council of their intnetion to do works). "

[nightshade]

It is a frequent occurance that developers hire in cowboys who fell trees then
disappear,the developer then says that they "got their orders wrong" or "got carried away"
Have a good look around your area (especially land that could be developed)
including houses with gardens that could one day be sold off and get going with the TPO's. Do not take anything for granted, then make it YOUR business to watch out for and look after these mature trees.
Three trees with TPO's were saved recently near me when developers finished building the exclusive estate (and then when they though no one was watching) tried to cut down three trees with TPO's because one of their wealthy customers complained they were blocking his view, after he had moved in. A contractor, incensed at the move, called the police, the county council,
the local town council and all the wildlife groups he could find in the phone book!

[Dan Salter]

Originally Posted by nightshade

It is a frequent occurance that developers hire in cowboys who fell trees then
disappear,the developer then says that they "got their orders wrong" or "got carried away"
Have a good look around your area (especially land that could be developed)
including houses with gardens that could one day be sold off and get going with the TPO's. Do not take anything for granted, then make it YOUR business to watch out for and look after these mature trees.
Three trees with TPO's were saved recently near me when developers finished building the exclusive estate (and then when they though no one was watching) tried to cut down three trees with TPO's because one of their wealthy customers complained they were blocking his view, after he had moved in. A contractor, incensed at the move, called the police, the county council,
the local town council and all the wildlife groups he could find in the phone book!

Ha ha good work that man!

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by nightshade

one of their wealthy customers complained they were blocking his view

had a similar case near me. Someone bought a house just round the corner from us with a mature oak tree (with a TPO on it) in the front garden. First thing they did was apply for planning permission to thin the crown by 50% because they don't like sweeping up leaves in the autumn! Honestly, why buy the house in the first place? If you want to live in a sterile concrete wasteland you have plenty of options.

We and at least one neighbour objected, pointing out the way other local trees had been butchered in the name of crown thinning. A bloke from the council came round to see what we were on about and was visibly shaken by the state of some of the trees that had had this work done. The result was that permission was granted to thin the crown by no more than 20%. At the first sound of chainsaws my wife and the neighbour were round there like a shot (I was at work) standing on the pavement with arms folded, shouting "20% - we're watching you!" My wife also wrote down the name of the contractors and the registration number of their van and made sure they saw her doing it!

I'd still rather they'd left the tree alone but it doesn't look anywhere near as bad as some. I'm just waiting for them to bung in another application to thin it buy a further 20%.

Dave P.