Tree rules in Barking and Dagenham: preservation orders and conservation areas
What the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham's own pages say about protected trees, the technical evidence it asks for when a tree is blamed for damage, the 4 year inspection and pruning cycle, and its street-by-street pruning schedule.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes three Barking and Dagenham Council pages as read on October 8, 2026: tree preservation orders and high hedges, report a problem with a tree, and the trees pruning schedule. The national rules, including the time limits in the England regulations, are on the guide to checking tree rules with UK councils. This page covers only what this borough's pages add.
Preservation orders and conservation areas
The council's TPO page says orders are usually made when removing a tree or group of trees would have a significant impact on the environment or public enjoyment. It lists the work that needs permission as pruning, lopping, felling and cutting of roots. This is the part particular to this borough: it says an application for work to a protected tree that is alleged to be involved in damage to buildings or other structures such as drains, paths or walls must be supported by technical evidence. It gives the maximum penalty for unauthorised work to a TPO tree as £20,000, with an unlimited fine on conviction in the Crown Court in serious cases.
For conservation areas, the page says trees get a similar level of protection to TPO trees, and that six weeks' written notice is needed to fell, lop, top or uproot, and that carrying out the work within that period without the council's agreement is an offence. For dangerous trees under a TPO, it says that except in an emergency at least five days' notice goes before cutting down a dying, dead or dangerous protected tree or removing dead, dying or dangerous timber from a healthy one. In an emergency it advises photographic evidence and a tree surgeon's report, and notes that the landowner has a duty to plant a replacement tree in the same place. To check whether a tree is protected, the page asks for an email to the planning team with the address, the location of the tree, who owns the property, the work proposed and any current planning permission.
High hedges
The same page sets the high hedge complaint fee at £350, not refunded whatever the outcome. It says the council can order the owner to reduce the height of a hedge, with a right of appeal, and that a complaint needs proof that other attempts to resolve the dispute failed.
Council trees and the pruning schedule
The report page says the council inspects a reported tree only if it is on public land, or on private land and blocking a public right of way. It manages almost all council-owned trees, including amenity green trees around housing estates, and trees along roads, on roundabouts, central reservations, verges, parks and cemeteries. It does not work on private trees in gardens, alleys or land, inspects school trees only at the school's request, and leaves garden trees of council tenants to the tenant under the tenancy agreement.
The cycles it gives are: pruning usually runs from October to March, most trees are pruned once every 4 years, and all trees are inspected for health and safety issues every 4 years. Street trees that are not pollarded sit on a 4 year cycle, pollarded street trees are cut every 1, 2 or 3 years, amenity green trees are pruned every 4 years, and park trees are inspected every 4 years with work only if needed. Work outside the schedule is for trees that are dead, dying or inspected and found dangerous. The pruning schedule page lets a visitor search by street name and lists each road with a year, in the form 2028/29, and a pollarding column; park trees are left off it.