A councillor wants tougher action to be taken when protected trees are removed without permission.
Independent councillor Bridget Fishleigh is asking Brighton and Hove City Council to back a move towards better enforcement of existing laws.
She is calling for a report to ensure that the council’s enforcement policy is clear when trees covered by a tree protection order (TPO) are removed without consent.
Cllr Fishleigh intends to raise the matter in a motion this week, with the full council due to meet tomorrow (Thursday).
She said:
“If a tree is protected by a TPO, then it is a criminal offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, damage or destroy that tree without the written consent of the local planning authority – and this extends to the cutting of the tree’s roots.
“Anyone found guilty of wilfully destroying a protected tree, or wilfully damaging that tree in a way that is likely to destroy it, may be fined up to £20,000 in the magistrates’ court and, in serious cases, they may go to the crown court, where the potential fine is unlimited.”
The Rottingdean Coastal ward councillor wants a report to be prepared for the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee.
She said that it should include guidance for residents and developers on the law, council policy and the rules about the size, variety and care of any replacement trees on private land.
Cllr Fishleigh was prompted to call for a stricter regime because protected and mature trees have been removed or damaged at a number of sites where developers have planned to build.
In October, she urged the council Planning Committee to save damaged protected trees on a plot earmarked for housing in Ovingdean Road.
In January, she persuaded the council’s Planning Committee to require extra trees at a site in Station Approach, Falmer.
Cllr Fishleigh said:
“Trees with TPOs have been chopped down and damaged across three separate sites in Ovingdean where new houses are being built.
“I was told that the council prefers to negotiate with these developers who have broken the law rather than use the courts to punish them.
“I appreciate that there are evidential and public interest tests that must be met by the arboriculture and legal teams.
“This motion aims to give council officers a clear direction that this soft-touch approach is no longer acceptable.”
The council is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4.30pm tomorrow. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
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