About Tree Preservation Orders

A Tree Preservation Order (TPO) is a written order made by a Local Planning Authority (usually your local council) in England and Wales. It protects specific trees, groups of trees or woodlands that bring amenity value to an area.

A TPO can protect a single tree, several individual trees, an area of trees, or an entire woodland. The protection applies regardless of who owns the land.

If a tree is protected by a TPO, you generally must apply to the council for consent before you cut down, top, lop, uproot, wilfully damage or wilfully destroy it — including pruning and pollarding.

Trees in a designated conservation area can have similar protections even without a specific TPO, usually requiring you to give the council written notice before carrying out work.

Carrying out unauthorised work on a protected tree can be a criminal offence and may lead to a significant fine.

This site is a prototype. It checks the national planning.data.gov.uk dataset, which is incomplete and not authoritative for every council. To confirm whether a real tree is protected, you should:

• Contact the tree officer at your Local Planning Authority (council).
• Search the council's online planning or TPO map / register, where one is published.
• Ask whether the property is within a conservation area.
• Always get written confirmation before carrying out any work.