Trees

This fact sheet is aimed primarily at people who have concerns that a council has failed to deal properly with a protected tree and may be considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman.

The counciI did not deal properly with a protected tree near my home. Can the Ombudsman help me?

Yes, in some circumstances. Councils have powers to make tree preservation orders (TPOs) for trees or woodlands that make a significant contribution to the amenity of an area. TPOs in general make it an offence to cut down, uproot, top, lop, root cut, or wilfully damage or destroy a protected tree without a council's permission. Trees over a certain size in Conservation Areas are also protected, and councils should be notified by those proposing to carry out work on trees.

If you believe the council has been at fault in the way it has dealt with matters relating to trees, you can complain to us and we may investigate. We may also investigate when fault leads to the loss or damage to trees, if it is in the public interest to do so.

We will not uphold your complaint if the council followed the proper procedures, law and guidance; if it correctly considered an application from the tree’s owner to cut it down or carry out works, or if the council properly investigated whether unauthorised work was planned or taking place. We cannot question the merits of decisions that have been properly made.

If you applied for consent for works to a protected tree and you disagree with the council’s decision, or the council has taken enforcement action against you for unauthorised works, we will not normally look into your complaint. This is because you have the right to appeal to the Secretary of State. Appeals are decided by the Planning Inspectorate. 

How do I complain? 

If you want to object to a proposed TPO or an application involving work on or removal or trees, you should write to the council as soon as possible saying why you think the TPO or application should not be approved. 

The council’s policy should say how long it will take to respond. Our Complaint Handling Code says councils should have no more than two stages in a complaint process. The longest a complaint should take is 16 weeks.

The council should provide you with updates on your complaint, including when it may take longer to respond.

If your complaint is not making any progress, you can follow our top tips for making a complaint to find out what is happening.

If you complained more than 16 weeks ago, and you have not received a final response, we may be able to make enquiries about what is happening to your complaint. You should have tried to ask the council what is happening before contacting us about any delay.

If the council has sent you a final response (usually saying something like ‘this is our final response’) and you are unhappy with the outcome, you can complain to us.

You should normally make your complaint to us within 12 months of realising that the council has done something wrong.

If you can consider my complaint what will the Ombudsman look for? 

First, we must consider whether your complaint is one we can investigate. If it is, we must then consider whether we should do so or whether there is an alternative which would be more appropriate.

We look at whether fault by the council has caused you significant injustice. This might be, for example, a significant harm to the wider public visual amenity.

We check whether the council has met its legal duties and followed its procedures. We may consider the evidence of technical assessments and what advice has been given. We may also look at reports and case files to see how the council made and recorded its decision. 

Some faults we might find are that the council:

  • did not inform a landowner that a TPO had been made for trees on their land 
  • failed to act promptly when unauthorised works to a tree took place
  • failed to prevent or follow up damage to protected trees during construction works
  • gave misleading advice on whether a tree was protected or what work could be done. (But we will not normally look into such a complaint made by an applicant who has or had appeal rights) 
  • did not consult with other bodies such as the Forestry Commission where required, or
  • failed to keep a TPO up to date.

What happens if the Ombudsman finds that the council was at fault? 

We will consider whether there was a significant injustice as a result and, if so, seek to remedy that injustice.

In some cases we may ask the council to pay for new planting or screening. If this is not practical, we may recommend the council makes a financial payment.  

We may ask the council to make changes it its procedures so that the same problem does not happen again.

Examples of some complaints we have considered

X complained about the council’s failure to retain mature trees behind their home, which is a listed building. The mature trees were intended to provide screening from a new development and protect the setting of the listed building. We found fault because the council has no record to show why it allowed existing trees to be replaced with smaller trees under a planting scheme. The council agreed to the remedy we recommended.
X complained about the council’s failure to protect a hedgerow, part of which was removed causing damage to public visual amenity and the environment. We found fault in the way the council made its planning decision, and the same fault might happen again. The council has agreed to review its policy, guidance, work practice and procedure, to make recurrence of the same fault less likely.
X complained about the council’s decisions relating to protected trees on his land. We found fault because the council did not properly assess the impact development might have on a tree that was protected by a Tree Preservation Order. We found that if the application had been properly considered, it is likely it would have been refused because of the likely damage to a protected tree. The council agreed to our recommendations to remedy the injustice caused by the fault and which might help avoid it happening again in future.

Other sources of information

For advice on planning go to www.planningportal.co.uk or on the Gov.uk website.

Government guidance on tree preservation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tree-preservation-orders-and-trees-in-conservation-areas

The Forestry England website, in particular their guidance on tree felling

Our fact sheets give some general information about the most common type of complaints we receive but they cannot cover every situation. If you are not sure whether we can look into your complaint, please contact us.

We provide a free, independent and impartial service. We consider complaints about the administrative actions of councils and some other authorities. We cannot question what a council has done simply because someone does not agree with it. If we find something has gone wrong, such as poor service, service failure, delay or bad advice and that a person has suffered as a result we aim to get it put right by recommending a suitable remedy.

October 2024

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