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The houses at Walderslade Woods were built as Boxley Parish Council a ‘woodland development’ and thus most houses Trees Information sheet are surrounded by large trees which whilst welcomed by many residents can cause some Boxley Parish Council In view of the number of problems. The parish council has received many Beechen Hall enquiries received by the parish complaints about the following; loss of light in office, the Council has produced an information gardens/properties; leaf fall; concern about Wildfell Close sheet of frequently asked questions and to large trees swaying in winds (nature designs Walderslade highlight other sources of information. them to do this); branches and twigs falling into Covered in this document are Tree Preservation gardens (some small scale branch fall is Chatham Orders; trees on public land; and issues natural); loss of signal to TV. Unless there is a Kent surrounding Walderslade Woods. health and safety issue, KCC (which owns ME5 9RU Walderslade Wood) is under no requirement to What is a Tree Preservation Order (TPO)? manage its trees and these problems are part of It is an order made by a local planning office the lifestyle of choosing to live within a wooded 01634 861237 (Maidstone Borough Council) which generally area. makes it an offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, wilfully damage or destroy a tree Contact List Clerk – Mrs Pauline Bowdery without the planning authority’s permission. [email protected] The Planning Permission form to submit a Maidstone Borough Council request for authorisation for work can be Maidstone House downloaded free from the MBC website (details King Street Assistant Clerk – below). There is no cost to apply. If you Maidstone Mrs Melanie Fooks deliberately destroy or damage a tree covered ME15 6JQ by a TPO you could be fined up to £20,000 as it assistant- is deemed a criminal offence. www.maidstone.gov.uk [email protected] Landscape Officer 01622 602736 How can I check if the tree/s on my [email protected] property are subject to TPOs? www.boxleyparishcouncil.org.uk This may be contained in the deeds of your Kent Highways Services house and should be in the legal search 03000 416005 undertaken prior to purchasing your property [email protected] but the up to date list is kept at Maidstone www.kent.gov.uk Borough Council (see Contact List below). Forestry Commission My tree has a TPO so who looks after it? www.forestry.gov.uk The owner of the property remains responsible for the trees, their condition and any damage they may cause. The Government produces a very good Trees in parks or open spaces generally belong Trees in private gardens causing a guide (available to download from to Maidstone Borough Council and trees by nuisance. www.communities.gov.uk) Protected trees: roads belong to Kent Highway Services. This is a private matter between you and your a guide to tree preservation procedures. A neighbour. copy is available to read at the parish Maidstone Borough Council and Kent office. Maidstone Borough Council also has County Council have a number of similar What is coppicing? relevant information on its website policies which can be summed up as Woods in Kent were traditionally planted as regarding what a TPO is and how to apply follows. chestnut coppice, which with regular for a TPO etc. MBC’s website contains more details as does the management can be cut down with the wood “A New Tree Policy for Kent Highway Services”. sold. Coppicing is traditionally done on rotation, Are all trees covered by TPOs? with small areas cut in sequence to provide a No. • Trees are not cut down unless they are mosaic of different aged coppice. The whole of considered dead, diseased or dangerous. each area is cut right down and this creates a I live in a conservation area are there any • Trees overhanging gardens and drives. clearing. This lets light back into the woodland Work is only carried out if there is a other rules? floor and allows ground flora and the coppiced health and safety issue. It is unlikely that If you live in a conservation area then the trees work to improve TV signal problems, stools to re-grow. Managed correctly coppicing have a level of protection even if they are not shading problems, overhanging branches can increase biodiversity in the woodland subject to individual TPOs. Permission must be etc will take place. Clerk’s comment – In because of the varied amounts of light reaching sought prior to any work or removal of the tree, the Walderslade area KCC has indicated the woodland floor and the range of different and the Planning Permission form to submit a that it might consider allowing work aged trees and stools in the woodland. The request for authorisation can be downloaded (subject to MBC’s permission for trees coppice re-growth from chestnut is rapid and covered by TPOs) if a resident considers free from the MBC website (details below). provides good habitat conditions for a range of paying for the work themselves. There is no cost to apply and basically you must Residents should be aware that an bird, mammal and insect species. give 6 weeks’ notice of the work you plan to do. application to reduce the size of a tree to Some trees species thrive on coppicing but other improve television signal reception is trees do not. Thus situations can occur when I have a lot of trees, not TPOed, which I unlikely to be approved by MBC. one person gets permission to coppice a want to cut down, can I just go ahead? • Leaves or berries etc which fall into chestnut but a neighbour’s request to fell a Not necessarily, as depending on the amount, gutters and guttering, residents’ Beech tree is refused as Beech would die from driveways and residents’ pathways are you may need a felling licence. More such work whilst a chestnut will send out not the responsibility of the councils as information on this can be found at cleaning up leaves or seeds are seen as regrowth. www.forestry.gov.uk - Tree Felling – getting normal household maintenance. permission. Walderslade Woods – a summary of the position. Trees on highway verges or public land. A blanket Tree Preservation Order covers the These are public property and even if they are Walderslade Woods (roughly Impton Lane to causing you a nuisance (loss of light to your Beechen Bank Road). The reason for the garden/house) you cannot chop them down or protection is that it is an Ancient Woodland and cut off branches. areas of these are becoming increasingly rare. .

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