THE number of protected trees in St Helens removed with planning permission over the past five years because of “damage or disease” has been revealed.

A tree preservation order (TPO) is an order made by a local authority to protect specific trees, groups of trees or woodlands.

St Helens Council says the removal of trees protected by TPOs is always a “last resort, justified in proposals to the local planning authority, and typically when there is a very real risk of harm”.

A spokesperson said: “Skilled and knowledgeable arborists undertake each survey with a ‘do-nothing’ approach, intervening only when necessary to protect the public, property or other woodlands from dead, diseased or damaged trees.

“TPOs are created by the planning authority to provide an extra layer of protection for specific trees or woodlands, prohibiting the cutting down, lopping, topping or uprooting of trees without planning consent, which is given only under strict conditions.”

The number of trees removed after approval was given

Furthermore, the council confirmed that, during the last five years, 80 trees under TPOs have been removed with planning permission because of “damage or disease”, many of them individual trees from larger groups of TPO trees.

The spokesperson added: “In such cases, their removal has allowed the remaining trees subject to the group TPO to prosper, protecting them from pests and diseases such as ash dieback and honey fungus, while planning conditions impose a requirement to replace trees identified for removal, meaning there has been no net loss to the borough’s trees in this time.

“These decisions are never made lightly as we are committed to increasing our forest canopy and biodiversity footprint in the borough. Last month we announced that St Helens borough will join towns and cities across the North of England in creating a new Northern Forest, where 50 million new trees are to be planted.

“The Grow Back Greener programme is being led by the Woodland Trust in partnership with regional organisations, including The Mersey Forest.

Tree planting

“In St Helens borough funding has been granted to plant 246 heavy standard trees (roughly 3m in height) in the initial phase and a further 8,325 smaller trees during the current winter period, in a variety of sites across the borough. And simultaneously we are pursuing other funding streams that will allow us to further increase biodiversity in St Helens.”

For more information about the tree planting programme, visit https://www.sthelens.gov.uk/article/10490/New-Tree-Planting.