How to get permission to prune a tree in a Faversham conservation area, step by step: from "is it even a tree?" to work done.
People call it a conservation area permit. The paperwork is actually a notice: you tell Swale Borough Council what you plan to do to a tree, wait six weeks, and go ahead unless the council steps in. There is no fee. This is the whole process in the order I work through it, with the real Swale links, so you know what you have at the end of each stage.
Starting point: a hedge with a tree growing in it, and no idea if you need paperwork
The typical Faversham case looks like this. A garden hedge behind an old brick wall has gone unclipped for a couple of seasons, and somewhere in the middle of it a self-sown sycamore or ash has shot up well above the privet. You want the tree brought back under control, the house sits in the town centre, and someone has mentioned a conservation area. What you have at this point is a question, not a problem. The stages below turn it into a dated notice, a clear answer from the council, and a job you can book with confidence.
Two things to say up front. First, a hedge itself is generally not a "tree" under these rules, so clipping privet, laurel or box as a hedge does not need a notice. The notice bites on trees standing in or beside the hedge. Second, the countryside Hedgerow Regulations 1997 are a separate regime, mostly about removing rural hedgerows, and are not what this guide covers.
Which trees need notice?
The test is size first, then a short list of exceptions. It applies to trees of any species, native or non-native, evergreen or deciduous, so a tall leylandii, laurel, hornbeam, beech, field maple or ash in or beside a hedge counts as a tree once its trunk is big enough. The section 211 rules come from the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and are explained in the government's guidance on trees in conservation areas.
| Situation | Notice to Swale needed? |
|---|---|
| Trunk over 75mm across, measured 1.5m above ground | Yes, six weeks before cutting down, topping, lopping or uprooting |
| Trunk 75mm or under | No |
| Cutting down or uprooting a tree of 100mm or under, only to help other trees grow (thinning) | No (the higher 100mm figure applies to this case only) |
| More than one stem at 1.5m (multi-stemmed) | Each stem is measured over its bark. If any one stem is over the limit, the small-tree exemption does not apply |
| Clipped hedge plants (privet, laurel, box, yew) kept as a hedge, stems under the limit | Normally no. They are shrubs in a hedge, not trees. Check the council's wording if a stem is thick |
| Fruit trees cultivated for fruit, pruned in line with good horticultural practice | No for that pruning (an exception carried over from the Tree Preservation Order rules) |
| Dead tree | Not six weeks, but 5 days' written notice first (see stage 8) |
| Tree posing an immediate risk of serious harm | No advance notice, but written notice as soon as practicable afterwards |
| Tree already covered by a Tree Preservation Order | Different route: the council's consent is needed under the Order |
| Work needed to obey an Act of Parliament, to carry out a full planning permission, or under a felling licence | Exempt under the exceptions list. Confirm with the council before relying on it |
How to measure it. Put a tape measure round the trunk at 1.5m above the ground, over the bark, and divide the number by 3.14 to get the diameter. The 75mm limit is about 23.6cm round the trunk, and 100mm is about 31.4cm.
Worked example. Take a self-sown sycamore in a walled town-centre garden that reads 31cm round at 1.5m. 31 divided by 3.14 is 9.9cm, so 99mm. That is well over 75mm, so a notice is needed before any pruning. The privet either side has stems around 30mm and needs nothing beyond ordinary clipping. If that same sycamore had read 20cm round, it would be about 64mm, under the limit, and no notice would be required.
What counts as the work. The notice covers cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, and wilful damage or destruction of a tree. Ordinary clipping of the hedge plants themselves does not trigger it.
Stage 1: check whether your address is in a conservation area
Swale Borough Council lists the historic town under three conservation areas that matter here: Faversham Town, Ospringe and Preston next Faversham (the council's list labels it "Preston Next"). Names are as the council writes them on its existing conservation areas page.
To check an address, open Swale's interactive map (the conservation areas layer under the Heritage and Environment tab), find your street and see whether the boundary line runs round your garden. Gardens do sit just inside or just outside the line, so look closely, and if it is not clear from the map, ask the council. The council's overview page is Conservation Areas.
After this stage: you know yes or no. If no, ordinary tree care applies and you can stop here (the nesting-bird law in stage 7 still applies).
Stage 2: confirm it is a tree, and check for a Tree Preservation Order
Run the size test above. Then find out whether the tree is protected by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO), because a TPO overrides the conservation-area rules and needs the council's consent rather than a notice. Swale has an online check if a tree is protected service. You give your house number and postcode and describe exactly where the tree stands, the council checks its records and tells you whether it is protected and what to do next.
After this stage: you know whether you are giving a section 211 notice (no TPO) or applying under a TPO.
Stage 3: decide exactly what you want done, and photograph it
Vague requests get sent back. "Tidy the sycamore" is not a description of work. "Reduce the crown by up to 2m all round, keeping the natural shape" is. Take a photo of the whole tree from the garden, a close-up of the trunk with the tape on it at 1.5m, and one showing where it stands against the wall, the neighbour's fence and the hedge. I do this on the first visit and keep the pictures with the notice.
After this stage: one page of plain wording, and a small folder of photos.
Stage 4: gather what the council needs
A section 211 notice does not have to be on any particular form. It must describe the work proposed, identify the tree or trees clearly, and carry the date it was sent. If there are several trees, say which work applies to which tree. The Planning Portal also lists a sketch map (it need not be to scale, but should show the tree against boundaries, buildings and roads), the tree type and condition, and your interest in the tree, meaning whether you own it. A photo helps.
After this stage: you have location, species, works, reasons, your contact details, a sketch and photos in one place.
Stage 5: submit the notice
There is no fee. The national route is the Planning Portal's online service for notification of proposed works to trees in conservation areas, which sends it to Swale as the local planning authority. Swale's own page on what to do before you work on a tree points people to the standard tree works form (it links an archived copy) to complete and return. That page does not spell out where to send a paper copy, so if you prefer paper, check the method first through the council's contact page. Swale's pages also use the word "permission" loosely. Legally it is a notice, which the council cannot refuse or attach conditions to.
Note the date you sent it and keep proof. The six weeks run from that date.
After this stage: a dated notice is with the council and the clock is running.
Stage 6: the six-week wait
Within the six weeks the council can do one of three things. It can make a Tree Preservation Order on the tree, if it judges the tree worth protecting for its amenity value. It can tell you it will not make an Order and the work can go ahead straight away. Or it can say nothing, and when the six weeks end you may carry out the work as described. If it makes an Order, the rules change and you would need to apply for consent under that Order.
After this stage: a written go-ahead, a TPO, or six quiet weeks. Any of the three is an answer.
Stage 7: after the notice, do it properly
- The 2-year window. If the council does not make a TPO, the work can be done within 2 years of the date of the notice. After that you would notify again.
- Do what the notice says. Pruning was notified, so felling is not covered. Anything beyond the description needs a fresh notice.
- Use a competent, insured contractor. The Planning Portal notes councils usually expect tree work to follow BS 3998.
- Nesting birds. Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to intentionally damage or destroy an active wild bird's nest. The Act sets no calendar dates, but 1 March to 31 August is the main nesting season in official guidance, and I check before every cut in that period.
- Keep the paperwork. Notice, photos and the council's reply, in case anyone asks.
After this stage: the tree is at the size you notified, with a paper trail behind it.
Stage 8: dead, dangerous and emergency trees
A tree in a conservation area that is dead needs at least 5 days' written notice to the council before work, unless there is an immediate risk of serious harm. (The government's tree-protection section speaks of 5 working days, so allow five working days to be safe.) If a tree presents an immediate risk of serious harm and needs urgent work, you can act to remove that risk, doing only what is needed, and give written notice as soon as practicable afterwards. Keep photos. A tree that is merely untidy is not an emergency. Where a tree is removed because it was dead or dangerous, the landowner has a duty to replant.
What to write in the notice: a Faversham example
Sample wording for the sycamore above
"Notice of intended works to a tree in the Faversham Town Conservation Area (Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 211). Site: [house number, street, ME13 postcode]. One sycamore, about 99mm diameter at 1.5m, standing against the rear wall, north-east corner of the garden, shown on the attached sketch and photographs. Proposed work: reduce crown by up to 2m in height and 1.5m in spread, cutting back to suitable growth points, no removal. Reason: the tree is overshadowing the house and pushing against the wall. Date sent: [date]. Applicant: [name, address, phone, email]."
The cost of getting it wrong
Cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting or wilfully damaging a tree in a conservation area without the notice, or before the six weeks are up, is a criminal offence. The government's guidance sets out a fine of up to £20,000 in the magistrates' court and an unlimited fine in serious cases sent to the Crown Court, plus a duty to plant a replacement tree. It is far cheaper to wait six weeks.
End result
Done right, the picture at the end is simple: the tree is reduced to a sensible size, the hedge below it is clipped straight, the wall is clear, and a folder holds a dated notice and the council's reply. From "no idea if I need paperwork" to that, the paperwork itself takes an evening. The wait is the six weeks.
Want a slot?
I will look at the hedge and tell you which trees in it need notice and which do not, then help you put the notice together and file it. Once the notice period has passed, I do the pruning or reduction. Email hello@favershamhedges.co.uk or call/WhatsApp 07763 100 477 with your postcode and a few photos, and I will reply with an honest yes or no and a date. I do not remove hedges or grind stumps.
For the wider rules on what each conservation area covers, see the section 211 process explained. If timing is the worry, read nesting-season hedge cutting in Faversham.
Sources: Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 211; GOV.UK, "Tree Preservation Orders and trees in conservation areas"; Planning Portal, "Works to Trees" (notification of proposed works to trees in conservation areas); Swale Borough Council pages on conservation areas, working on trees and checking whether a tree is protected; Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1.