Fines issued after protected trees removed

A tree surgeon who removed three limes that were protected by a Tree Preservation Order in a Walsall conservation area has been ordered to pay more than £800 by magistrates who also fined the property's owner £2,000.

Walsall Magistrates Court was told that a concerned resident advised tree surgeon Clement Kidney that the trees were covered by a Tree Preservation Order but he carried on removing them.

Kidney, trading as Town and Country Tree Surgeons, of Acocks Green, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to removing the trees from Wesleyan Court, Lichfield Road, Walsall, without the formal consent of Walsall Council.

The 64-year-old was fined £300, ordered to pay court costs of £500, and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £35, when the case was heard on Monday 12 January 2015.
Property owner AH Field (Holdings) Ltd of Bath Row, Birmingham, also entered a guilty plea and was fined £2,000, ordered to pay court costs of £1,107, and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £120.

Magistrates said more care should have been taken by the tree surgeon to ensure the Limes were not protected and that the company should have had better procedures in place.

Councillor Lee Jeavons, portfolio holder for environment and transport with Walsall Council, said: "Trees are an important part of our local environment and the council is committed to protecting them through the use of Tree Preservation Orders.

"We thank the local resident who tried to intervene and subsequently brought this matter to our attention so we could investigate. We will not hesitate to prosecute in these circumstances although it could have so easily been avoided if the tree surgeon had contacted the council to check whether a Preservation Order was in force."

Removing protected trees is an offence contrary to Section 210(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act which carries a maximum penalty of £20 000 if heard at the magistrates court, or an unlimited fine if heard at Crown Court upon indictment. Under the same Act, anyone who prunes a protected tree without consent may be liable to a fine of up to £2,500.

The council will seek to have the three limes replaced within the Tree Preservation Order before the current planting season ends in late March.

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