Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) were introduced in the late 1940s to enable Local Planning Authorities to protect important trees. Current legislative controls are contained within the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and interpreted in The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's publication Tree Preservation Orders - A Guide to the Law and Good Practice.
TPOs can be placed on any single tree, group of trees, area of trees or woodland that has amenity value. Trees that are exempt from TPOs are those that are dead, dying, diseased or imminently dangerous and fruit trees grown for the commercial production of fruit.
TPO controls prohibit the cutting down, uprooting, topping, lopping, willful damage or willful destruction of trees without prior consent from the Local Planning Authority.
The maximum penalty for carrying out works to TPO trees without consent is currently £20,000.
For further information contact:
Tree Team
Environmental Design
New Forest District Council
Appletree Court
Lyndhurst
Hants
SO43 7PA
telephone 023 8028 5330
HPSN OnNet 8 777 5330
fax 023 8028 5223
email Environmental Design,
