Tree Preservation Order

[LexMitior]

I have just had a tree surgeon tell me that there is TPO on a sycamore in my garden!

Anyway, I wondered what the legal implications of this are. I'm not planning to remove it, but should I be telling my insurance company and what liability might I have if it damages anything by dropping a branch or falling? It overhangs the road and people park their cars under it: I'm a responsible owner and do get my trees checked, but is there anything else I need to do?

Many thanks- I love the tree and it is beautiful but I do want to make sure it is safe and I am doing the right thing. I won't be cutting it down or otherwise messing with its appearance.

I would look on gov.uk gor what it means.

My understanding is it is just to stop you cutting it down or pruning it without permission. If it were diseased or dangerous you can still apply for planning permission to chop it down.

What do you need to do with it? No additional liability just restrictions on pruning and removal. You may need pp to do so. If you do work on it without you can be fined.

I know you say you don't want to do anything to it but thats what a TPO is for. It means you can't do anything to the tree unless you notify the arboriculture officer first. He'll come and inspect it and then either agree or disagree to what you want to do to it.

On a sycamore? Bad luck. They can get enormous and are thugs. We have one in London and we had to get permission to prune it. No issues with the council and it was sorted out by tree surgeon, but all trees need to be cared for, TPO or not . You really don’t want it losing branches and becoming unbalanced. Sycamores emit a sticky sap and anything under them suffers!