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Tree rules in Richmond upon Thames: preservation orders and conservation areas

What the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames's own pages say about protected trees, the 7.5cm trunk size it gives, the exemption notices, its £40.50 copy charge, the four-yearly tree survey, plane and lime work, and its duty-to-consult list of street tree removals.

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 Richmond upon Thames Council pages as read on October 8, 2026: protected trees, tree removal, tree management and pruning, and privately owned trees. 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 Richmond's pages add.

Protected trees

The protected trees page says trees are protected by standing in a conservation area or by an order, that details of orders in force are available at the Civic Centre or through the customer services phone line, and that a copy of an order whose number is known costs £40.50 including postage. It says a search of the local land charges register should reveal an order or a conservation area when a property is bought. It gives a size: if the trunk of a protected tree is greater than 7.5cm in diameter measured at 1.5m above the ground, a tree work application is needed for any work. Applications go through the Planning Portal or on a paper form, and the page says they take up to 8 weeks to process.

Exemptions and notices

The page lists cases where permission is not needed and gives the notice for each. Cutting or pruning a tree that presents an imminent and serious safety risk needs at least five days written notice by post or email, with proof on the balance of probabilities that it was dead or dangerous. Cutting down a dead tree needs at least five working days written notice with photographs. Work to prevent or control a legal nuisance needs at least five days notice with photographs, a site plan and a specification. The list also names trees cut under a Forestry Commission grant or felling licence, work approved in a detailed planning permission, commercial orchards, work under a statutory obligation, and removing dead branches from a living tree. It adds that replacement trees may be needed.

For a conservation area tree with no order, the page says a Section 211 notification is considered and decided within 6 weeks, and a trees-in-conservation-area template form is encouraged but not mandatory. Where an order already exists, normal order procedure applies.

Council trees

The tree management page says a borough-wide tree survey is carried out every four years, that the current survey cycle runs from 2023 to 2027, and that a tree survey and works timetable shows when each was last inspected and next due. Its timeframes are called indicative and can be brought forward. A Clear Highways and Paths Schedule runs every year to lift low branches over footways and remove epicormic growth. London plane work is normally scheduled for winter dormancy because the leaf hairs irritate the eyes and airways of arborists, and the page says delays meant planes were being reduced in leaf, with extra personal protective equipment and fewer trees a week. Basal growth on council-owned limes is removed twice a year, in May and June and in August and September.

The tree removal page lists when a council tree may be removed: unacceptable risk or obstruction, proven beyond reasonable doubt to cause significant structural damage, overpopulation, or a species judged inappropriate for the setting. It aims to replant for every removal, in the November to March season, publishes scheduled removal programmes with works order numbers, and notes that section 115 of the Environment Act 2021 requires highway authorities in England to consult the public before felling street trees, with exemptions that include dangerous trees. The page for privately owned trees says the council does not manage them but assesses proposals to work on protected ones, and that a neighbour is not obliged to prune for overhanging branches or lost light.

Sources