Before any tree work in Durham, the first question is whether the tree is protected. Two rules matter: Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) and Conservation Areas. Both are controlled by Durham County Council.
Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs)
A TPO protects an individual tree, a group of trees, or a woodland. Once a tree is covered by a TPO you need the council’s written consent to cut it down, top it, or lop it, even if it is in your own garden.
How to check: Durham County Council holds the register. You can search it online, or we check it as part of our free inspection. We do this before quoting, so you never find out mid-job that the tree is protected.
How long consent takes: A standard application takes around eight weeks. The council may visit the site, and it can add conditions, for example requiring a replacement tree to be planted.
Penalties: Carrying out work on a protected tree without consent can lead to fines of up to £20,000 (or, for serious cases, more). If a protected tree is destroyed, the council can also require a replacement to be planted. The fine follows the tree, not the mistake, so it is not worth the risk.
Conservation Areas
County Durham has 93 Conservation Areas, in towns and villages across the county. Durham City itself is a Conservation Area, as are Chester-le-Street, Bishop Auckland, Lanchester, Brandon and many of the villages we work in.
Inside a Conservation Area, the same works that would need a TPO application need something different: you must give the council six weeks’ written notice before work on most trees. The council can then protect the tree with a TPO if it wants to, which stops the work.
What is exempt:
- Trees under 7.5cm in diameter (measured 1.5m up the trunk), or 10cm if thinning for good forestry practice
- Dead trees, or trees that are dangerous
- Fruit trees grown for fruit, and trees being removed because they are causing a nuisance, in very limited circumstances
“Dead” and “dangerous” are judged properly, not by what a contractor writes on a form. If you think a tree in a Conservation Area is dead or dangerous, we can advise on the evidence needed, and in genuine emergencies work can go ahead with the council notified afterwards.
Where this bites in Durham
- Durham City: the whole city centre, including most streets around the cathedral and university, is a Conservation Area. Garden trees in the city are very likely to be protected one way or another.
- Chester-le-Street: the town centre Conservation Area covers much of the older housing stock.
- Bishop Auckland: the Conservation Area runs around the Market Place and Auckland Castle.
- Villages: Lanchester, Brandon, Brancepeth, Kirk Merrington, Tanfield and others have Conservation Areas or scattered TPOs that are easy to miss if you do not check.
What we do
Every quote starts with a check of the TPO register and Conservation Area boundaries for that property. If permission is needed, we handle the application and tell you the timeline before any work is booked. There is no extra charge for the check, and no work starts until the paperwork is in place.
Need to know whether your tree is protected? Send us the details and we will check it for you.