Felling of ancient oak highlights lack of regulation in tree removal

Pub chain Mitchells & Butlers has said it was responsible for cutting down the huge oak – that had a girth of 6m (20ft) - to ‘protect our employees and guests as well as the wider general public’.

The tree was in a north London park alongside the M&B owned Toby inn, and had been inspected and deemed a ‘fine specimen’ with a life expectancy of at least 50 years as recently as March 2024 by Enfield Council.

The incident came just weeks before the trial is due to start of two men charged with criminal damage for chopping down the iconic Sycamore Gap tree that once stood in a dip next to Hadrian’s Wall.

Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, both from Cumbria, are charged with causing £622,191 worth of criminal damage to the famous Northumberland tree and will appear before a jury at a trial starting on 28 April at Newcastle Crown Court.

And earlier this month a landowner was forced to pay nearly £80,000 following a long-running case where he was found guilty of illegally felling more than eight hectares of woodland in the Gower Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near Swansea.

Suzanne Tucker, partner and head of planning at FBC Manby Bowdler, said the law around tree removal was a complicated one.

She said: “There are various ways that trees can be protected in law. If the Enfield tree had been subject to a Tree Preservation Order or TPO, any pruning, felling or wilful damage would have been a criminal offence; however, in this case, it seems that the council applied an emergency TPO only after learning that the tree had been cut.

“Only relatively few of our established and cherished trees are protected by TPOs, although there are other protections that might apply.

“Before carrying out any work to trees in a Conservation Area, advance notification must be given to the local council to allow them the opportunity to inspect and potentially impose addition protection by way of TPOs.

“Larger scale tree felling requires a felling licence, and in some cases, conditions on planning permissions can stipulate their retention.

“It is not clear whether any of these protections applied in the case of the Enfield oak; if not, there was nothing legally preventing its felling.”

She added that prosecutions could potentially follow based on criminal damage if the tree was not within M&B’s own land, or if any protected species were harmed during the work.

Landowners should carry out checks and seek advice before cutting down or even pruning trees, to stay within the law.

Suzanne works closely with landowners and farmers with a specialism in defending against enforcement actions.