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Tree rules in Ealing: preservation orders and conservation areas

What the London Borough of Ealing's own pages say about tree preservation orders, how it looks up and decides works, what it reports for unauthorised pruning, and how it inspects its 24,000 street trees every three years.

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 four Ealing Council pages as read on October 8, 2026: tree preservation orders, protected trees, street tree inspections and tree removal. 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 Ealing's pages add.

Tree preservation orders

Ealing's TPO page says an order protects a tree including its roots and prohibits felling, uprooting, topping, lopping and wilful damage or destruction. It says an order can cover one tree, groups or woodland. When a new order is served the council notifies the landowner and the neighbouring properties affected, and the page gives 30 days to object. To check for an existing order the page points to the council's find-your-nearest tool, which takes a postcode, or to the planning service on (020) 8825 6600. The protected trees page adds that a copy of an order is requested through a planning file request form, and that trees may be protected through a conservation area as well as an order.

Applications for works

The page says works to a TPO tree need a formal application to the planning department, made on the council's form or through the Planning Portal. Planning staff register the application and the tree service assesses it and sends recommendations back to planning. The decision notice is issued within eight weeks. The page also says permitted development work on a property may need permission first where it is likely to sever roots or branches of a nearby protected tree. It states what the council says about penalties: deliberate destruction of a protected tree, or damage likely to destroy it, can lead to an unlimited fine, a person who permits someone else to damage a tree can be fined, and other offences, including unauthorised pruning, can lead to fines of up to £2,500.

On the dead or dangerous exemption the page is blunt. It says the burden of proof, on the balance of probabilities, rests with the defendant. It advises landowners using the exemption to send photographs or reports at the earliest opportunity, and says that a landowner who cannot justify the exemption is treated as in breach and liable to prosecution.

Council-managed trees

The street tree inspections page says the tree service inspects the 24,000 trees on the highway on a three-yearly cycle, ward by ward, with up to eight wards inspected each year. Inspections are by trained arboriculturists who identify defects and hazards and prescribe pruning. The page links an inspection programme and a scheduled works list, and says all listed work is due by the end of the financial year.

The tree removal page lists when the council removes a tree: health and safety, a nuisance covered by UK law such as a tree blocking a highway, proven building subsidence, benefit to the tree stock, and good arboricultural practice. It says it will where possible publish a list of proposed removals or put a notice on the tree at least 10 working days before the date, with exceptions for urgent dangerous trees, young trees that failed to establish and dead trees. Stumps are dealt with by a specialist team within six weeks. The report a tree problem page gives a 20 working day investigation time and says reports about a tree in a conservation area or under an order go to planning rather than the tree service.

Sources