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Residential tree work

Work on Protected Trees in Stockport

How Tree Preservation Orders and conservation areas work, and qualified teams to carry out the work once it’s approved.

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Is Your Tree Protected?

Stockport Tree Surgeons arranges protected trees (tpo) across Stockport and the surrounding towns, carried out by NPTC-qualified, fully insured tree surgery teams.

Councils protect individual trees, groups and woodlands with Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs). Trees in a conservation area are protected too, once the trunk is more than 75mm across, measured 1.5 metres above the ground. Stockport has 37 conservation areas, and the area we cover also takes in Cheshire East, Trafford, Tameside, Manchester and High Peak. Each council keeps its own TPO records and conservation area maps.

Cutting down, topping, lopping or uprooting a protected tree without permission is a criminal offence. Fines run up to £20,000 in the magistrates’ court and are unlimited in the Crown Court, and the owner can be made to plant a replacement. If we think a tree might be covered, we’ll tell you when we quote.

How Consent Works

For a TPO tree, the owner or someone acting for them applies to the council, describing exactly what work is proposed. There’s no fee, and if the council hasn’t decided within eight weeks you can appeal. For a conservation area tree without a TPO, you give the council six weeks’ notice instead. The council either lets the work go ahead or makes a new TPO. In Stockport both can be submitted through the Planning Portal or on the council’s works to trees form.

A precise specification, such as “reduce crown by 2 metres, cutting to suitable growth points, to BS 3998”, makes the application clear. We’ll write one for you to use, and once consent is granted, or the six weeks have passed, our teams carry out exactly what was approved and nothing more.

Planning Winter Work on a Protected Tree

Late autumn to late winter is the most popular time for crown reductions and pruning, while trees are dormant and before birds start nesting in spring. Because the council can take up to eight weeks to decide a TPO application, and a conservation area notice needs six weeks, it’s worth getting the paperwork in early if you’d like the work done this winter. Ask us for a quote and we’ll write the specification for you to submit.

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Protected Trees (TPO) by a qualified tree surgery team

Work That May Be Exempt

Dead branches
Removing dead branches from a living TPO tree doesn’t need consent or notice.
Dead trees
A dead tree can be felled without consent, but you must give the council five working days’ written notice first, unless the work is urgently needed to remove an immediate risk of serious harm.
Immediate danger
Work needed to remove an immediate risk of serious harm is exempt, but you must tell the council in writing as soon as practicable and be ready to prove the danger, so photograph everything.

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Good to know

Protected Trees (TPO): Common Questions

How do I check if my tree has a TPO?

Stockport Council has an online service for checking existing Tree Preservation Orders, and can supply a full copy of an order for a fee. Cheshire East, Trafford, Tameside, Manchester and High Peak each keep their own records. Trees on newer estates can also be protected by a condition on the original planning permission.

Who applies for consent, me or the tree surgeon?

The owner or someone acting for them can apply. We’ll give you a clear written specification of the work to use in the application, and we won’t start until consent is granted or the six-week notice period has passed.

Do small trees in a conservation area need notice?

Not if the trunk is 75mm or less across, measured 1.5 metres above the ground. Hedges, bushes and shrubs aren’t covered either.

Can I cut back branches from a neighbour’s protected tree?

Not without consent. The protection applies to the whole tree, including branches hanging over your side of the boundary, so the same application or notice is needed first.