Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

England: High Court restricts TPO felling exception—Reg 14(a)(vii) requires discharge of pre-commencement conditions; 'necessary to implement permission' strictly construed (R (WWAG) v North Northamptonshire Council)

Published on: 19 June 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Planning expert

Legal News

Article summary

R (on the application of Wellingborough Walks Action Group Ltd) v North Northamptonshire Council [2024] EWHC 1225 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case?

This ruling is of direct importance to local planning authorities (LPAs) and to developers advancing or assessing proposals that entail removing trees protected by TPOs. It clearly underscores the responsibility of LPAs to secure the protection of safeguarded trees, and stresses that the statutory exceptions to felling under the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012 (the Regulations) must be approached with care and not deployed as a blanket position without examining in detail the particular circumstances on the facts. As to the discrete, expressly framed exception in Regulation 14(a)(vii), which provides that consent is unnecessary where felling is ‘necessary to implement a planning permission’, the court reviewed Barney‑Smith v Tonbridge and Malling BC [2016] EWCA Civ 1264, which confirms the complementary relationship between the regimes, namely that a TPO gives way to what is necessarily required to carry out the planning permission. The court further made clear that the threshold is a stringent one: any felling must be ‘necessary’ in order to implement the consent, and that the relevant planning...

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