Tree works advice
Trees in the National Park - enquiries
For enquiries regarding trees, please in the first instance contact the National Park Authority’s Customer Service team on 01629 816200 or customer.service@peakdistrict.gov.uk
Some enquiries can be answered by Customer Services, for others you will be put through to one of the Tree Conservation Officers.
Getting advice or arranging site visit by a Tree Conservation Officer
The Tree Conservation Officers try wherever possible to answer queries satisfactorily by email or phone, but sometimes full advice is not possible without the trees being seen in person.
A site visit by a Tree Conservation Officer can be provided if requested, which is chargeable in line with the Authority’s fee schedule (see final entries on this schedule). Alternatively, site advice can be arranged with an arboricultural consultant or a tree surgeon (arborist).
Dangerous trees
Tree safety is the responsibility in law of the tree owner. We do not have jurisdiction on this. Dangerous trees which could affect highways should be reported to Derbyshire County Council Highways department - their contact details are:
Website: https://my.derbyshire.gov.uk/
Call Derbyshire Hotline: 01629 533190
Neighbours’ trees
Issues relating to neighbours’ trees cannot be resolved by the National Park Authority. The best advice is always to reach an agreement directly with the tree owner.
Tree Preservation Orders
Protected trees
Trees are protected in law where they are within Conservation Areas or where a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) has been made.
Outside of residential garden settings, tree felling may require a felling licence depending upon volume and timing. These are administered by the Forestry Commission - we cannot advise on felling licences.
Trees can be protected as a consequence of specific time-limited planning conditions issued by the National Park Authority when granting planning permission. Details of planning conditions are issued to the planning applicant, who is responsible for ensuring they are complied with.
Detailed government guidance on permission for tree felling.
Before carrying out tree work you must check whether any Tree Preservation Order (TPO) or Conservation Area applies. See the map further below.
Carrying out work to protected trees
If the tree has a PDNPA Tree Preservation Order (TPO) in place, you must apply for permission from the National Park Authority to undertake any works. It is an offence to not do so. This is a form of planning application, and must be submitted either via the online Planning Portal (preferable) or using the statutory form below. We aim for decisions on TPO tree work applications to be made within 8 weeks or less
If your tree is within a Conservation Area, you must provide the National Park Authority with written notice six weeks before carrying out works to trees. It is an offence to not do so. It greatly assists our resource management if this written notice is submitted either via the online Planning Portal (preferable) or using the statutory form below. Trees and branches which are entirely dead are exempt from the requirement, though you must be prepared to evidence this if it is subsequently queried. We aim to respond to conservation area tree work notifications in less than the 6 weeks allowed - typically it is 3 to 4 weeks.
Failure to obtain consent or provide written notice can result in a court appearance and unlimited fine. Prohibited works are cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, wilful damage and wilful destruction.
Does the tree have a TPO or is it in a Conservation Area?
If you want to find out whether a tree or property is affected by a Tree Preservation Order, use our interactive map. As well as Conservation Areas, the map brings together all the TPO information held by the Peak District National Park Authority, including:
- individual TPO trees
- group TPOs
- area TPOs
- woodland TPOs
Open Digital Planning data
Separately, the Peak District National Park Authority publishes its TPO information as open data through the Government's Open Digital Planning (ODP) service, intended primarily for specialist users and data reuse. The ODP map data is separated for individual TPOs and for groups/areas/woodlands TPOs. It may not therefore provide a complete picture on one map - as one property may have individual TPO trees, another may have TPO trees which are grouped, and some may have both.