There has been a lot of change in tree law over the past, nearly, 20 years. I reflected on the changes which are likely to be of relevance to public sector land owners and break down some of the key dates and changes.
2006 – 2012 – Sheffield street tree
Sheffield’s Streets Ahead programme set about replacing a large proportion of the Council’s mature and over mature trees. Plan to replace 17500 trees over 25 years. This work was contracted to Amey. As the work started it led to a huge protest with the Sheffield Street Tree Protestors. This led to a public enquiry which concluded that the Streets Ahead programme was flawed as, amongst other things, it ignored the value of street trees. It failed to anticipate the view of significant numbers of people across Sheffield. This in part contributed to the launch of the Duty to Consult, as set out in the Environment Act.
2014 – Haringey plane tree case
Subsidence damage to the Oakfield Rd property in Haringey started in around 2014 (it was a reoccurrence from an earlier episode of damage). Investigations concluded that the Council’s Plane tree was the cause of the damage and the Council were asked to fell the Plane tree to stop its ongoing influence on the property. The Council agreed to fell and, overnight, placed heras fencing and security guards around the tree to stop campaigners taking over the tree. A complaint was made by the owners of both affected houses, who complained to the Financial Ombudsman about the management of their subsidence claims. The outcome of the FOS was that the insurers had to underpin their properties as the solution. Underpinning is a scheme whereby the foundations of the property are deepened to take them down below the depths where roots impact the volume of the soil. Therefore it’s an alternative to tree removal.
November – Environment Act 2021
Following the Sheffield street tree issue the duty to consult was launched in the Environment Act 2021. This duty means that local authorities need to consult with the public before they fell a street tree in their ownership. The duty to consult became a statutory duty in November 2023.
December 2021 – Peterborough Oak tree
Tree Law was in this subsidence claim which hit the news. Involved an ancient Oak in Peterborough which had been implicated in subsidence damage. The insurers of a property had sought permission for a TPO to be removed so that two oaks could be felled. One Oak was in the garden of the damaged property and the other owned by the Council on the other side of the fence. This was unusual for a council owned tree to have a TPO on it. The tree in the garden was felled and the Council wanted to comply with the request to fell their tree even though it hadn’t been confirmed with evidence whether that tree (further away) had an ongoing influence on the tree. The felling was paused for independent evidence to be obtained. The Council were concerned that they would face a legal liability if the tree wasn’t felled and were also concerned of the possible impact on other properties in the vicinity in the future. Despite independent evidence not confirming a causal link between the tree and the damage or the tree and a future risk of damage, the Council went ahead and felled the tree.
March 2023 – Plymouth tree case
Council removed 100 trees at night – high court case for contempt wasn’t successful but an independent review by Solace was ordered. This led to criticism of the Council over the way in which the removal of the trees had been carried out. Particularly in light of the outcome at Sheffield and criticisms over lack of communication with the public and the imminent launch of the Duty to Consult.
September 2023 – Sycamore Gap tree felled
The illegal felling of the tree owned by the National Trust. Criminal case pursued by the CPS for criminal damage to the tree and Hadrian’s Wall. The defendants have been found guilty of this and await sentencing later this month. A custodial sentence is being sought which would be the first custodial sentence for crime of this sort. This case came at a time where there is increasing focus on protecting the UK’s ancient, veteran and notable trees.
November 2023 – Duty to Consult
The duty to consult became a statutory duty.
December 2023 – Heritage Trees Bill
The Heritage Trees Bill campaigning for increased protection to heritage trees had its first reading in the House of Lords.
April 2025 – Protecting trees of high social, cultural and environmental value
This is a paper written by the Tree Council and Forest Research. There is a focused campaign on giving increased protection to notable trees as these are irreplaceable ecosystems that are far more than ‘just a tree’.
April 2025 – Whitewebb’s Oak felled by Toby Carvery
The felling of a 500y Oak tree in Whitewebbs Wood in Enfield. This tree was in the grounds of the Toby Carvery restaurant. They had admitted to the felling of the Oak citing concerns over danger as being the reason for its removal. The met police originally involved but they have handed matters back to Enfield Council. I understand that the Forestry Commission are investigating whether a felling licence should have been sought, or whether they should have been involved prior to the felling for an exemption from need for a felling licence on the grounds of the tree allegedly being dangerous. Tree was on land leased from Enfield to Toby Carvery. A TPO has now been placed on the remaining stump of the tree. Enfield have committed to exploring with lawyers whether there is a claim against Toby Carvery. Currently a civil claim but the forestry commission could use their powers to bring a criminal claim. I don’t know if that is happening though.
June 2025 – Haringey street tree case
Continued from above. Then in early June the residents noticed that the Council had placed the notice on the tree to consult with residents about its removal (as per the new Duty to Consult law). This led to a question mark over why the Council was continuing to consider removing the tree given that is been confirmed that underpinning will be installed to stabilise the properties in the ongoing presence of the tree.
What’s on the horizon?
- July 2025 – Sentencing of Sycamore Gap
- Summer 2025 – launch of the updated joint mitigation protocol by the London Tree Officers Association
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