CS31: Legal Constraints (WaCA)

The Wildlife and Countryside Act (WaCA) 1981 is, quite frankly a total minefield of various bits of legislation, but it exists to protect the habitats of various bugs and beasties.

Just to give you a taste of this minefield, since WaCA 1981 there have been various amendments to the Act, most significantly through the Countryside Rights of Way (CRoW) Act of 2000... and the Nature Conservation Act (2004)(Scotland)... and the Local Government Act 1985, the Water Act 1989, the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and so it goes on! The CRoW Act also significantly changed SSSI (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) legislation in England and Wales.

But we don't particularly need to know all that for our purposes...

Find out more here...

OK, so you've probably got the idea that it's a potentially complex issue - that's why we have ecologists who love this sort of thing(?) - but we're just interested in how it applies to us cutting down a tree or two.

Possibly the most important, and most likely things we are likely to do is destroy either a bat roost, or a bird's nest. Red squirrels are also protected and you'll need to check for your area within the UK (and there are some pockets of red squirrels in the South of England too).

The Act protects wild birds, and it is an offence to:

• kill, injure or take any wild bird.


• take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use, or being built.


• disturb any wild bird that has been listed in Schedule 1 while it is nest building, or at a nest containing eggs or young, or disturb the dependent young of such a bird.

Clearly, felling a tree that contains such a bird (nest), or felling a tree into another tree / shrub / hedgerow that contains the nest of one these birds could leave you open to prosecution under the Act. Bats are another highly protected species and were protected under Schedule 5 of WaCA, however since 2007 the effective protection of bat species has been accomplished through Schedule 2 of the Conservation Regulations 1994. Either way it is an offence to:

• damage or destroy a bat roost (whether or not the bat is there)


• intentionally or recklessly disturb a bat at roost


• obstrust access to a bat roost

A bat roost is any structure or place which any wild bat uses for shelter or protection, and as bats can and will reuse the same roost it is protected whether the bat, or bats, is / are present.

CS31: Legal Constraints (Felling Licence)

The requirement for a felling licence is stated as part of the Forestry Act 1967 (Amended), and whilst there are some exceptions to felling under this Act, if you get it wrong then you are liable to prosecution. So it kinda makes sense to have some basic notion about when you need a felling licence.

Find out more after the jump...

You can apply for a felling licence via the Forestry Commission website, or direct from an FC office. You will need to apply for a felling licence if you intent to fell (in one calendar quarter) a tree, or trees, which total more than 5 cubic metres, and then sell more than 2 cubic metres. The calendar quarters run from:

• 01 January - 31 March


• 01 April - 30 June


• 01 July - 30 September


• 01 October - 31 December

There's plenty of infomation available on the 'net about felling licences within the UK, but here's a couple of good links to provide you with more backgrounds information should you need it:

Forestry Commission: Tree Felling, Getting Permission

Forestry Commission: FAQs

In the final part of the CS31 Legal Constraint series, we'll take a look at the Wildlife and Countryside Act, an enormously important, and indeed an enormous Act! I'll try to distill the essence of the Act to a few paragraphs...

CS31: Legal Constraints (Conservation)

In the next part of this mini-series about legal constraints when felling trees, we're going to sneak a peek at conservation areas.

The importance of trees within a conservation area is recognised by the Town and Planning Act, which makes a special provision for trees in a conservation area, and not already protected by a Tree Preservation Order (see previous post).

Find out more after the jump...

A Section 211 Notice lists the work that is proposed for trees within a conservation area, and require a six-week notice period from application to the decision. There are exceptions from a Section 211 notice, and these are:

1. If a tree to be cut down is being felled in accordance with a Forestry Commission Felling Licence (see next post).


2. if the tree work is exempt from a TPO.


3. if the work is being carried out by, or on behalf of, a National Park Authority, District or Borough Council.


4. if the work is to be carried out on a tree with a stem diameter not exceeding 75mm (3") measured at a point 1.5 metres up the main stem.


5. dead, dying or dangerous.

To be honest, you'd need to be pretty sure that tree needed to be worked on, as if you felled it only to find out that the tree was actually alright and didn't constitute a denger... well, let's just say that's probably not a good place to be ;0)

In the next post, we'll take a quick gander at Forestry Commission felling licences.

CS31: Legal Constraints (TPOs)

In the previous post I briefly mentioned the four legal constraints as written in the CS31 NPTC assessment schedule; and in this post I want to introduce more fully the Tree Preservation Order. There's plenty of information about this on the 'net including the updates and amendments, so all I want to do is to try and give you a flavour of what it's about.

Find out more after the jump...

The Tree Preservation Order (hereafter just called TPO so that I don't have to keep typing it out in full!) is designed to provide a level of protection for trees and woodland that have amenity value. The TPO is part of the Town and Country Planning Act, and it should be noted that it's used by local authorities in England.

The TPO prohibits the...

• cutting down


• uprooting


• topping


• lopping


• wilful damage, or...


• wilful destruction

...of any tree that has had a preservation order placed upon it by the local authority (note that this also includes tree roots). Interestingly, the Act does not define what a 'tree' is; or indeed a 'woodland' for that matter! In essence, if it would be normal to call it a tree, then it's a tree for the purposes of this, however shrubs, bushes and hedgerows are not covered. There is no minimum size for a tree, and it can include fruit trees, but this is dependent upon the amenity value.

A TPO can be placed upon a tree after it has been assessed for it's value, the individual impact and the wider impact on it's surroundings. A TPO can apply to an individual tree, a group of trees, or an entire woodland.

In order to work on a tree that is protected, one has to apply to the local planning authorities tree officer; there is [now] a standard application form and this must be completed showing the work to be carried out and a plan of exactly which tree, or trees, are to be worked on. The authorities can then assess the impact of the proposed work and allow, amend or deny the request.

And that's about it really - if you want to know more about TPOs, check out this PDF document Tree Preservation Orders: A Guide To The Law And Good Practice.

- DriveLink -