You must apply to your local planning authority before you carry out works on trees if they are protected - that is if they are covered by a Tree Preservation Order or are located in a conservation area (where those works to trees have a trunk diameter of more than 75mm when measured at 1.5m from ground level, or more than 100mm if reducing the number of trees to benefit the growth of other trees). This includes pruning neighbouring overhanging branches.
Conservation areas
You must give six weeks' notice before carrying out work to trees in a conservation area that are not already protected by a Tree Preservation Order. You may use our application form for this purpose, or apply via the Planning Portal. This gives the Council an opportunity to consider whether a Preservation Order should be made to protect the tree(s).
If you are unsure if the tree is located within a conservation area, please see Conservation areas | Ipswich Borough Council.
To check if the tree has a preservation order and/or is in a conservation area, please see GIS Online (to use our interactive mapping service - Download the User Guide) or Planning Online.
Development
You must apply or give notice to the Council if you want to work on a protected tree when you are carrying out development, even if full planning permission is not needed.
Where full planning permission has been granted you might still need to apply or give notice before carrying out work to protected trees. You should check first to see if this is required.
Special circumstances
You do not need to get consent in a few special circumstances - for example, when a tree is dead or dangerous (where a tree presents an immediate risk of serious harm), or removing deadwood from a living tree. In this case, you are advised to speak to the Council about your proposed work, particularly felling, as this may fall within a five-day exemption.
We are often contacted with regards to vegetation and trees overhanging the highway. We can accept works under exemption, provided works are the minimum amount.
For more details, download the Suffolk County Council Highways Guidance (PDF).
What is the situation if my trees are protected?
For the purposes of this advice, a protected tree is one that is subject to a Tree Preservation Order or growing in a conservation area. One of the exemptions for the need to submit a formal application (for trees subject to a Tree Preservation Order) or a ‘Notice of Intent’ (for trees growing in a conservation area) is where the work involves ‘the cutting down or cutting back a tree in line with an obligation under an Act of Parliament’.
Provided that only the minimum amount of pruning is being carried out to comply with the requirements of the Highways Act 1980, in other words the pruning is directly required to maintain adequate clearance over a footpath or road, then a formal application (for trees that are subject to a Tree Preservation Order) or a ‘Notice of Intent’ (for trees that are growing in a conservation area) is not required.
This exemption applies irrespective of whether the highway authority has served notice on the owner/occupier to carry out the clearance work. The pruning should be carried out to currently acceptable arboricultural standards.
The requirements
Although the Highways Act 1980 doesn't specify any actual measurements for overhanging vegetation, Suffolk Highways has identified minimum requirements:
• For pedestrian areas, minimum headroom of 2.6m (8ft 6 inches).
• For carriageway and an area immediately adjacent to it (for a distance of 0.5m (1ft 8 inches) minimum headroom of 5.2m (17ft).
Please contact Parks and Cemeteries on 01473 433580. You should be prepared to prove that the work falls within an exemption.