Tree rules in Westminster: protected trees and conservation areas
What Westminster City Council's own pages say about the more than 650 tree preservation orders, the six weeks' notice for trees in its 56 conservation areas, the documents its tree works checklist asks for and its 9,000 street trees.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 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 Westminster City Council's trees and high hedges page, its conservation areas page and its tree works validation checklist as read on October 9, 2026. The council's trees page shows a last-updated date of September 30, 2026. 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 Westminster's pages add.
Protected trees
The council's page says many trees on private land are protected in one of three ways: by a tree preservation order, by standing in a conservation area, or by specific conditions on a planning permission that protect them during development. It says the council maintains 9,000 street trees by inspecting and pruning them on a regular cycle and removing them where necessary, and that trees in parks and in council-owned cemeteries at East Finchley, Hanwell and Mill Hill are maintained by its Tree Section. It says there are over 650 tree preservation orders protecting thousands of trees, and that almost any work to a protected tree needs the council's consent first.
The page states that carrying out tree surgery on, or removing, a tree protected in these ways without prior consent or notifying the council is a criminal offence. It adds that if a tree owner allows unauthorised pruning or felling, both the owner and the contractor could be prosecuted, and that approved work should be done by an adequately qualified and insured tree surgeon. It points to the Arboricultural Association's directory of tree surgeons.
Conservation areas
On its conservation areas page the council says there are 56 conservation areas in Westminster, designated for their special architectural and historic interest. It says some are affected by special controls called Article 4 Directions, that an online map shows which areas are affected, and that six weeks' notice is required before any work to prune or fell a tree in a conservation area. The trees page calls this notice a section 211 notice, in writing, and says it gives the council a chance to consider whether a tree preservation order should be made.
What the checklist asks for
Westminster's tree works checklist is a two-page document whose footer says the local validation requirements were agreed by the Cabinet Member for Business, Licensing and Planning in October 2021. It says an application may be delayed, may need more information or may be returned if the listed documents are missing, and it encourages online submission through the Planning Portal.
| Application | Required by the national rules | Asked for locally |
|---|---|---|
| Works to a tree under a tree preservation order | Completed and dated form with mandatory questions answered; sketch plan of all trees; identification of the trees and a full and clear specification of the works; statement of reasons; evidence for the reasons where the standard form calls for it | Replacement planting details if felling; marked-up photographs; contact details for access to inspect; details of any advice sought from a planning officer beforehand |
| Notice of works to a tree in a conservation area | Completed form or written description of the proposal; a full and clear specification of the works with enough information to identify the trees | Sketch plan; marked-up photographs; replacement planting details if felling; statement of reasons and supporting evidence; advice sought beforehand; contact details for access to inspect |
The Planning Portal says a section 211 notice is not an application for consent, so it cannot be refused or accepted with conditions, and that the council can reply by making a preservation order or by letting the work go ahead.
Sources
- Westminster City Council, trees and high hedges, read October 9, 2026
- Westminster City Council, tree works validation checklist, local validation requirements October 2021, read October 9, 2026
- Westminster City Council, conservation areas, read October 9, 2026
- Planning Portal, works to trees consent type, read October 9, 2026
- GOV.UK, Tree Preservation Orders and trees in conservation areas, read October 9, 2026