Had tree professionally cut but did not know it had a TPO

starwarsclark

Hi all,
I lurk a lot but rarely post, however I hope someone can offer some advise please. Basically we had the height of a tree in our garden reduced, as it was overhanging the garden and meant we had little light left, by a professional tree surgeon and found out later that there was a TPO on it. The council came round to look at a neighbours tree and they noticed we had had the work done, we then received a letter advising us that we had committed an offence. So we wrote to council who have just written back to say that they wish to review more evidence prior to any criminal proceedings taking place! My wife is distraught and is now worried about getting a criminal record (and it stopping us going to America on holiday later this year) and the unlimited fine they are referring to. Does anyone have any advise as to what may/may not happen please? I know ignorance is not a defence but we did not know there was a TPO on the tree.

googler

I would have thought any professional tree surgeon would check this first... Ours did.

starwarsclark

googler wrote: »

I would have thought any professional tree surgeon would check this first... Ours did.

Thanks for the reply, can only say that they did not. The council has written to them as well.

poppysarah

Do you own your home?
Was the TPO not mentioned at the time you bought it?

starwarsclark

poppysarah wrote: »

Do you own your home?
Was the TPO not mentioned at the time you bought it?

Thanks, yes we do own the home and we bought it about 12 years ago, neither of us remembers seeing any TPO letters etc. Not really sure if this question is in the right section of this forum but didn't know where to put it - sorry.

Norma_Desmond

Has it been pruned hard or actually killed?

I'd check the law on TPOs.....

starwarsclark

Norma_Desmond wrote: »

Has it been pruned hard or actually killed?

I'd check the law on TPOs.....

It has been pruned hard but definitely not killed. Our next door neighbour was about to get hers done when someone told her that she had a TPO, she knew nothing about it, she asked for permission and this was granted, she has now had her tree cut and that was when the council officer noticed ours was done. I can honestly say that our tree is pretty much the same as the one next door that had the permission.

SnooksNJ

starwarsclark wrote: »

Hi all,
I lurk a lot but rarely post, however I hope someone can offer some advise please. Basically we had the height of a tree in our garden reduced, as it was overhanging the garden and meant we had little light left, by a professional tree surgeon and found out later that there was a TPO on it. The council came round to look at a neighbours tree and they noticed we had had the work done, we then received a letter advising us that we had committed an offence. So we wrote to council who have just written back to say that they wish to review more evidence prior to any criminal proceedings taking place! My wife is distraught and is now worried about getting a criminal record (and it stopping us going to America on holiday later this year) and the unlimited fine they are referring to. Does anyone have any advise as to what may/may not happen please? I know ignorance is not a defence but we did not know there was a TPO on the tree.

I can't help with the tree but for US immigration I don't think it's moral turpitude.
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/86942.pdf

fishpond

I would speak to whoever deals with TPOs in your council:)

pinkteapot

fishpond wrote: »

I would speak to whoever deals with TPOs in your council:)

Agree with this. I'd phone (rather than write), be VERY apologetic, say you had no idea there was a preservation order, and say that your tree surgeon never asked if the tree had one. He/she will certainly get a ticking off from them as a reputable one should always ask the owner this before doing work, and most then check it out themselves.

If it's any consolation at all, the unlimited fine only applies if you actually fell the tree completely. The maximum fine for pruning a protected tree (but not killing it) is £2,500.

But, before you worry about that, phone them up and find out what you should do next and if there's any possible route to get retrospective permission.

starwarsclark

pinkteapot wrote: »

Agree with this. I'd phone (rather than write), be VERY apologetic, say you had no idea there was a preservation order, and say that your tree surgeon never asked if the tree had one. He/she will certainly get a ticking off from them as a reputable one should always ask the owner this before doing work, and most then check it out themselves.

If it's any consolation at all, the unlimited fine only applies if you actually fell the tree completely. The maximum fine for pruning a protected tree (but not killing it) is £2,500.

But, before you worry about that, phone them up and find out what you should do next and if there's any possible route to get retrospective permission.

Thanks for that but my wife has already phoned them (about 6 weeks ago) and was advised to write, which we did and then, after waiting for almost a month for them to reply, we finally get a letter back from them today about needing extra evidence, criminal offence etc etc. Will call them and see about retrospective permission.