S211 Notifications Process
There is specific guidance for officers and applicants on dealing with requests to carry out work on trees in Conservation Areas. Such requests must be made by submitting a Section 211 notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
You can find out if your tree is in a Conservation Area by looking at our search for local planning restrictions page.
Conservation Area trees are:
- Governed by Section 211 TCPA 1990
- Require a Section 211 notification (notice of intent)
- Local Planning Authority (LPA) has 6 weeks to:
- Allow works to proceed (by taking no action), or
- Serve a TPO to protect the tree
Trees in a Conservation Area that are not covered by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) are protected under Section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Before carrying out certain work on these trees, you must give the local planning authority 6 weeks' notice by submitting a Section 211 notice, unless an exemption applies.
The work can be carried out before the end of the 6-week notice period if the local planning authority agrees. The notice period allows the authority time to decide whether the tree should be given additional protection through a Tree Preservation Order.
You do not have to use the APP1 TPO form to give 6 weeks notice of tree work in a Conservation Area. However, the APP1 form is commonly used for this purpose. If you use the APP1 form, you must clearly state that you are submitting a Conservation Area notification and not a Tree Preservation Order application.
Conservation Area notifications can also be submitted by email instead of using the APP1 form. If you apply by email, you must include all the information listed across these pages.
Email applications should be sent to planning@greatercambridgeplanning.org
These notices relate to trees only. You can check if your tree or plant meets the criteria for a notice on the Royal Horticultural Society website.