Trees | LocalGov


Brighton and Hove takes steps to combat elm disease 28/04/2025 Brighton and Hove City Council is set to launch its annual inoculation programme to protect thousands of historic trees from elm disease.
Enfield threatens legal action over ancient oak felling 17/04/2025 Enfield Council has threatened the Toby Carvery pub chain with legal action after the felling of a 500-year-old oak tree.
Council issues order to protect remains of ancient oak 16/04/2025 Enfield Council has issued an emergency preservation order to protect what remains of a 500-year-old oak tree that was partially felled by a pub chain.
Council gives away 30,000 trees in a day 02/12/2024 Leicestershire County Council gave away 30,400 trees in a day last week as part of plans to boost planting.
UK-first tool developed by Bluesky scores areas green credentials to aid urban planners 29/11/2024 A new tool which allows urban planners to assess tree coverage and access to green space based on a new rule has been developed by Bluesky International.
Council fined £500k after dog walker death 11/11/2024 Cheshire East Council has been fined £500,000 after admitting breaches of health and safety legislation that led to a dog walker's death.
Council buys land to plant 25,000 trees 06/08/2024 A Devon council has bought 65 acres of land to develop a ‘community woodland’.
PM promises to limit council tree felling 29/11/2023 Residents will have to be consulted before local authorities remove trees in their areas, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced.
Greening Up: why, where and how 03/10/2023 Nicholas Boys Smith, director of Create Streets, sets out how local councils can improve the level of urban greenery and why they should.
Council defends presence of dead Christmas tree 02/06/2023 A Christmas tree in the market town Beverley remains standing in June because a family of birds have made it their home, according to the town council.
Leicestershire hits 250,000 tree planting milestone 02/06/2023 An environment plan in Leicestershire has reached a milestone with 250,000 trees now planted throughout the county.
Ancient King Charles oak faces the chop 05/05/2023 Tensions are brewing as Berkshire residents push back against plans to fell a 700-year-old oak tree used to spy on King Charles I's army during the Civil War.
Campaigners resist plans to cut down trees for ‘eco homes’ 11/04/2023 Residents of historic Bournville village in Birmingham have called on their local councillor to intervene over a plan to cut down trees and build ‘eco homes’.
Council leader to resign over night-time tree felling 23/03/2023 Plymouth City Council leader Richard Bingley intends to resign from his position next week, according to the ruling Conservative group.
Cost of protecting Haringey tree rises to £1m 21/03/2023 Keeping a tree at the centre of protests by local campaigners standing would cost £1m, Haringey Council has warned.
Plymouth council contractors forced to stop tree felling 16/03/2023 Contractors working for Plymouth City Council cut down 110 trees at night before an injunction forced them to stop work.
Sheffield approach to tree felling utterly condemned 07/03/2023 A report into the Sheffield street trees scandal has laid the blame firmly at the door of the former leadership of the council.
Tree schemes need help, say campaigners 03/01/2023 Council tree planting schemes need help with maintenance costs says The Woodland Trust after reports of the loss of many trees planted in recent years.
Council faces prosecution following death of 6-year-old Ella Henderson 16/11/2022 Newcastle City Council will be prosecuted following the death of six-year-old Ella Henderson, who was hit by a falling tree at school.
Council awarded £68,000 after illegal tree felling 15/09/2022 Eastleigh Borough Council has secured its largest ever fine and costs totalling over £68,000 after a local landowner cut down some trees.
Funding allocated to expand woodlands across England 05/08/2022 The Government has announced £44.2m funding will help plant millions of trees across England.
Regenerating public realm for climate change 29/07/2022 The regeneration of White Hart Lane in Tottenham, London has shown has permeable paving and street trees should can help address climate change while delivering SuDS. Chris Hodson reports.
Local authorities urged to bid for £8m fund to accelerate tree planting 17/06/2022 Up to 50 local authorities will share £7.8m to train and employ new staff to drive forward tree planting and woodland creation.
Council uses tree planting to encourage council tax e-billing 15/02/2022 Shropshire residents can now support tree planting efforts by opting to receive their council tax bills electronically, the local council has said.
Woodlands save £185m in mental health costs 06/12/2021 Visits to the UK’s woodlands boosts mental health and is estimated to save £185m in treatment costs annually, a new report has found.
Funding allocated to plant hundreds of thousands of trees 29/11/2021 Over £12m funding has been allocated to plant hundreds of thousands of trees across England.
Councils urged to bid for new £6m woodland fund 01/11/2021 Local authorities are being urged to bid for a new £6m fund to create new woodland and improve access to nature.
Meeting new planning requirements for trees 07/09/2021 Concrete block permeable paving offers an important opportunity to help satisfy the requirement for extensive tree planting and retention of existing trees in developments. Chris Hodson reports.
Councils in north east band together to plant 500 hectares of trees 21/07/2021 Six local authorities in the north east have joined forces with environmental organisations to plant a new forest.
Trees: The critical role of local authorities to protect and expand the urban forest 09/07/2021 Sue James explains how local authorities can ensure trees on both public and private land are protected and that urban canopy cover is increased where needed.
New community forest for Plymouth and South Devon 23/06/2021 The first of at least three new community forests will be created in Plymouth and South Devon, the Government has confirmed.
Urban Tree Fund re-opens for third phase 13/05/2021 The Urban Tree Challenge Fund has re-opened for applications to enable 44,000 large trees to be planted in towns and cities.
Councils secure £2.9m emergency tree fund 11/03/2021 The Woodland Trust has awarded 11 local authorities £2.9m to plant trees and create green spaces.
Blossoming tree circles to be planted across UK 26/02/2021 Blossoming tree circles will be planted in cities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the next five years, as part of a new project to signal 'reflection and hope'.
Government announces nearly £4m tree planting pot 07/12/2020 The Government has announced £3.9m of funding to help plant hundreds of thousands of new trees across the country.
Sheffield council apologises for ‘numerous problems’ with tree felling scheme 15/10/2020 Sheffield City Council has issued an apology after a report from the local government Ombudsman found ‘numerous problems’ with the way it removed trees in 2016.
Council fined after fatal tree branch accident 21/07/2020 Wirral Borough Council has been fined £100,000 after a pregnant woman lost her baby when a tree branch fell and hit her moving vehicle.
Government launches consultation on accelerating tree planting 19/06/2020 The Government has launched a consultation on ways to accelerate tree planting in an effort to combat the biodiversity and climate crises.
Councils call for more ambition on tree cover target 21/04/2020 Six councils have called on the Government to double the tree cover target in England.
Councils urged to bid for second round of £10m urban tree fund 31/03/2020 The second round of the £10m Urban Tree Challenge fund has opened for bids today.
Sheffield approves new approach to managing street trees 12/03/2020 A new partnership to manage its street trees has been approved by Sheffield City Council, following protests last year about its tree felling programme.
Over 50,000 trees to be planted in urban areas 10/02/2020 More than 50,000 trees are to be planted in urban communities following the allocation of the first round of the Urban Tree Challenge Fund.
Edinburgh council announces aim to be a ‘million tree city’ 29/01/2020 Edinburgh City Council has announced that it is working on an ‘action plan’ aimed at increasing the number of trees in the city to one million.
Homeowner fined over £60,00 for ‘wilful damage’ to a protected tree 24/12/2019 A homeowner who damaged a 90-year-old tree so much that it had to be felled has been fined over £60,000 by magistrates.
Cornwall Council launches tree planting drive 18/12/2019 Cornwall Council’s flagship climate emergency project the Forest for Cornwall will be officially launched next week at a community planting day in Saltash.
Council accidentally cuts down 800 young trees 20/11/2019 Reading Borough Council has apologised to community volunteers after accidentally digging up hundreds of newly planted saplings.
Manchester CC joins campaign to plant 50 million trees 09/10/2019 Manchester City Council has thrown its weight behind a campaign to encourage the Government to support the planting of a large forest in the North of England.
Councils flout ancient woodland protections, campaigners say 01/08/2019 One year on from strengthened protection for ancient woodland in England, local planners are still 'failing to safeguard' the habitat, the Woodland Trust has claimed.
Online tool to calculate health impact of trees published 11/07/2019 A new online tool which can help councils calculate how much pollution would be removed by planting trees in local areas has been launched.
Ash tree disease poses public safety risk in Wales, council chiefs say 01/07/2019 Local authorities have committed themselves to tackling a notorious ash tree disease that has spread across Wales.
Fund launched to plant 130,000 urban trees 20/05/2019 The environment secretary Michael Gove has announced a £10m fund to help encourage the planting of over a hundred thousand trees in urban areas across England.
Tree disease to cost economy £15bn 07/05/2019 Ash dieback will cost the UK economy £15bn, researchers have calculated.
Sheffield CC compromises over controversial tree felling plans 14/12/2018 Sheffield CC has acknowledged the need for a new phased approach to street tree replacement as a result of the ongoing controversy over tree felling.
Sheffield CC tables proposal to end tree felling dispute 25/10/2018 Sheffield City Council has tabled a proposal to save 300 trees and ‘phase the work on others’ in an effort to end the long running dispute over tree felling.
London boroughs receive 40,000 new trees for parks and community spaces 16/08/2018 The mayor of London has launched a £1.5 woodland fund to help 21 boroughs plant new trees in parks, estates, playgrounds and other community spaces.
New Tree Champion to ‘drive forward’ planting at local level 13/06/2018 Local authorities are to be required to consult with residents before felling trees in their areas under a new duty, the environment secretary has said.
Council secures conviction over ‘mass destruction’ of protected trees 02/05/2018 Borough of Poole has successfully prosecuted a man after he illegally chopped down 11 protected trees in the garden of his property.
Half of Sheffield's trees threatened by controversial highways contract 12/03/2018 Up to 17,500 trees could be replaced in Sheffield City Council’s highways maintenance contract, newly released information has revealed.
Council calls for help to catch ‘phantom tree feller' 02/08/2017 Slough Borough Council has called on residents to be vigilant after a mystery person chopped down six large trees.
Whitehall announces multi-million pound tree planting fund 21/07/2017 The Government has made a £13m fund available to help councils plant more trees and reduce the flood risk to communities.
Council threatens councillor with legal action for tree felling protest 28/06/2017 Sheffield Council has threatened legal action against environmentalists and an opposition councillor who are trying to prevent some trees being removed.
Controversy over council decision to cut down Queen Mother’s trees 03/02/2017 Northumberland council has been criticised for cutting down trees that were planted in the Queen Mother’s honour.
Can money really grow on trees? 29/09/2016 Scott Fitzgerald explains why Salford City Council has created a detailed inventory of its highways trees.