How to get permission to prune a tree in Wingham conservation area, and in the villages around it
Often called a conservation area permit, though the paperwork is a free notice, not an application. On the Wingham round the trickiest part is knowing which council you write to, because the round straddles two.
Wingham sits on the A257 and its conservation area is one of the designated areas on Dover District Council's list. Drive west along the same road to Littlebourne or Wickhambreaux and you have crossed into Canterbury City Council's area, with its own web pages and its own conservation areas. My section 211 explainer covers the rules. This guide is the walkthrough for actually sending the notice.
Which council, and which conservation area?
| Village on the round | Council | Conservation area(s) on the council's list |
|---|---|---|
| Wingham | Dover District | Wingham |
| Preston and Elmstone | Dover District | Preston - The Street, Preston - Preston Court, Elmstone |
| Ash | Dover District | Ash - The Street, Ash - Street End, Ash - Guilton |
| Goodnestone and Nonington | Dover District | Goodnestone, Nonington - Church Street, Nonington - Easole Street |
| Staple | Dover District | None named Staple, so check the map for your address |
| Littlebourne, Wickhambreaux, Ickham, Bekesbourne, Adisham | Canterbury City | Canterbury lists 97 in its district; use its map to check your address |
The Dover names are exactly as Dover's conservation area map layer lists them. Wingham itself is straightforward: the Dover route below applies. If you are on the Canterbury side, skip to the box after step 5.
Which trees need notice?
Size and type decide it, and the hedge line is where most of the confusion comes from. Any species counts if it meets the size test: beech and hornbeam that have been left to run up, field maple, ash, sycamore, leylandii, yew, laurel grown into a tree.
| Case on the Wingham round | Notice needed? |
|---|---|
| Front hedge of privet or laurel on the High Street, clipped to fence height | No: a hedge, and stems are well under 75mm |
| A yew or beech let out of the boundary hedge into a specimen tree, trunk over 75mm at 1.5m | Yes, for topping, lopping, cutting down or uprooting |
| Old hawthorn and field maple hedge behind a plot off the A257 that has grown into a line of trees | Yes, for each tree meeting the size test |
| A tree with several stems at 1.5m, one over 75mm | Yes: if any stem exceeds the limit the small-tree exemption is lost |
| Trunk 100mm or less, cut down solely to help neighbouring trees grow | No |
| Bramley or another fruit tree in a back garden | Government guidance exempts commercial fruit trees and pruning a fruiting tree to good horticultural practice. Dover's wording is "fruit trees cultivated for fruit production". Ask if unsure. |
| A dead tree, or one about to fall | Different rules, see step 8 |
Work that triggers notice: cutting down, uprooting, topping, lopping, wilful damage or destruction. Light trimming of hedge plants themselves normally does not.
Measure it. Tape round the trunk at 1.5m up, divide by 3.14. A beech standing in a garden hedge behind a High Street plot reads 88cm round: 88 divided by 3.14 is 28cm, so 280mm, comfortably over the 75mm line. The 75mm line itself is 23.6cm on the tape.
The eight steps for a Wingham address
1. Check the address against the map
Search Dover's conservation area map by postcode or street name, and read the conservation areas page. The map is for viewing only, so if you sit close to the edge, email the council. The designated area covers the village, not the whole parish, so a farm plot or a house on the outskirts may fall outside it.
2. Is it a tree, and is there a TPO?
Check the size test, then the council's TPO map. A Tree Preservation Order works anywhere in the district and, if one applies, you need formal consent under it instead. For trees on newer development plots, the council's planning history search will show whether planning conditions protect them.
3. Decide the work and photograph it
Write down which tree, which limbs, what height. Photograph the whole tree and the parts you want cut.
4. Gather what is needed
The law asks for a description of the work, enough detail to identify each tree, and the date. The Planning Portal suggests adding a sketch map, the species and condition, and your interest in the property, with a reason for each operation.
5. Send the notice
Dover's tree protection page says to email tree.enquiries@dover.gov.uk. The Planning Portal also offers an online notification for trees in conservation areas. No fee. Keep a dated copy.
On the Canterbury side of the round?
For Littlebourne, Wickhambreaux, Ickham, Bekesbourne or Adisham the notice goes to Canterbury City Council. Its page on planning permission for work to a tree says a tree more than 75mm wide at 1.5m needs notice of any work, with photos, and links to an application route through the Planning Portal. Check your address on its conservation area and tree map and see its conservation areas page. The size test, the six weeks and the two-year window are the same national rules.
6. The six weeks
Dover, or Canterbury, can make a TPO, say the work may go ahead, or say nothing. The notice cannot be refused or given conditions. If nothing is said, you may go ahead once six weeks have passed, and you have two years from the date of the notice. You can start sooner only with the council's consent.
7. After the wait
Do only what the notice described. Use an insured, trained tree contractor; the Planning Portal says councils usually expect work to BS 3998, and the Arboricultural Association's find a professional directory lists registered firms. Keep the notice, any reply and your photos. If a tree in a conservation area is removed, the owner must replant a suitable tree in the same place.
8. Dead and dangerous trees
For a dead tree, give the council five working days' written notice before the work, unless there is an immediate risk of serious harm. For a tree posing an immediate risk of serious harm that needs urgent work, give written notice as soon as practicable afterwards. Only do what removes the danger, photograph it first, and keep any tree specialist's written opinion.
What to write: a Wingham High Street example
Example notice
To: tree.enquiries@dover.gov.uk. Section 211 notice of intended works to a tree in the Wingham conservation area. Property: [address, High Street, Wingham, postcode]. Tree: one beech at the rear boundary, about 13m tall, trunk about 280mm at 1.5m, marked on the attached sketch. Works: crown lift to 4m over the garden and removal of dead wood over 25mm, no other pruning. Reason: light to the rear windows and dead wood. Contact: [name, phone, email]. Date sent: [date]. Photos attached.
Nesting season
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 applies whatever the planning position. Mature hedge-line trees along the A257 corridor and the Little Stour valley can hold nesting birds, and the usual guidance window is 1 March to 31 August (the Act itself sets no dates), so I check for active nests before I cut.
Hedges, and what skipping the notice costs
A hedge itself is not a tree for section 211, so most hedge trimming needs no notice. Removing countryside hedgerows falls under the Hedgerows Regulations 1997, a separate regime, explained in the government guidance. Work to a protected tree without notice is a criminal offence. The guidance gives fines of up to £20,000 in the magistrates' court and an unlimited fine in the Crown Court, plus a possible duty to replant.
Related guides
Want me to look at the hedge line first?
Send a postcode and a photo to hello@winghamhedges.co.uk or WhatsApp 07763 100 477. I will tell you which trees in the hedge would need notice and which would not, and which council to write to. Once the notice period has passed, I do the pruning and hedge work.
Sources: GOV.UK, Tree Preservation Orders and trees in conservation areas; Planning Portal, works to trees; Dover District Council, tree protection and conservation areas; Canterbury City Council, work to a tree (all checked 30 September 2026). General information, not legal advice.