Tree rules in Southwark: preservation orders and conservation areas

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes five Southwark Council tree pages as read on October 8, 2026: protected trees, the tree management policy, reporting a tree issue, maintaining your trees, and requesting a new or replacement tree. 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 Southwark's pages add.

Which trees the page lists as protected

Southwark's protected trees page names three groups: trees under a tree preservation order (TPO), trees in conservation areas, and trees on the Dulwich estate. It says a TPO can cover a single tree, groups of trees or entire woodlands, that hedgerows can be protected but bushes, shrubs and climbers cannot, and that the planning team must approve any pruning or other work on a TPO tree. For conservation areas it gives two sizes: a standalone tree with a diameter of 7.5 cm or more at 1.5 m above the ground, and a tree that is part of a group with a diameter of 10 cm or more at 1.5 m. The page says 6 weeks' notice goes to the council before a protected conservation area tree is pruned or removed.

The Dulwich estate

This is the part of the page that is particular to Southwark. It says that in some parts of Dulwich, permission from the Dulwich Estate may be needed before work on a tree, and that this applies to properties with the postcodes SE19, SE21, SE22, SE24 and SE26. It names the estate governors as the contact and gives their address as The Old College, Gallery Road SE21 7AE.

Looking up a tree

The page points to a conservation and TPO map that it says shows where all the protected trees are in Southwark, and to a page on where the conservation areas are. The maintaining page says the owner is responsible for trees on their property, including in council housing, and that before work the page asks the owner to check whether the tree has a TPO or sits in a conservation area. It says the council offers no tree pruning or tree surgery service for private trees, and it points to the Arboricultural Association list of approved professionals to find a contractor. Council tenants are told to ask their resident service officer for approval first.

Council trees

The tree management policy page says the borough has over 100,000 trees and that the council maps and records the history of every tree. The policy covers where trees are, where more are needed, pests and pollution, and work with community partners. The report page says the council looks after trees on public roads, in parks and open spaces, on housing estates and in school grounds, and gives 020 7525 5000 for a dangerous tree or branch. It also lists diseased or damaged trees, overgrown trees and roots damaging property or paths as reportable. Unauthorised work on a protected tree goes to the planning enforcement team, and oak processionary moth sightings go to the Forestry Commission. The new tree page says the council plants between November and March and that its priority is to increase tree cover, including replacing dead or dangerous trees.