Highway / street tree felling consultations (Duty to Consult)

Highway and street trees occasionally need to be cut down (felled), this can be for several reasons.

The Council will only consider removing the highway / street trees if there are no long-term engineering or tree management solutions available as an alternative to removing the tree.

Before removing a highway or street tree, we must hold a consultation to let residents know about the proposal to remove it. This is called Duty to Consult.

For information on what type of trees the Duty to Consult applies to, see Which trees are looked at.

The Duty to Consult on felling street / highways trees has been introduced to make sure local people can give their views on the proposed management of street / highway trees in their local area.

How to have your say

We will put a public notice on the tree and on these pages to let you know about the proposal and consultation.

View the Public notices.

You can comment on the consultation by:

• emailing Consultations-Trees@southtyneside.gov.uk
• calling Council's Contact Centre on 0191 427 7000

You must submit any comment within 28 days, from the date of the notice.

The Duty to Consult only applies to trees on streets / highways land that is either owned or maintained by the Council.

It does not apply to:

• trees that are on land which is not owned or maintained by the Council
• trees on publicly (Council) owned land such as:
  • parks
  • housing estates

Exemptions

There are some situations where the Council can remove a highway or street tree without having a public consultation first. 

Situations where an exemption would apply are as follows:

• Small trees less that 80mm diameter
• Dead trees, those that no longer produce leaves or foliage
• Trees that have been assessed as having a disease that requires containment under the Plant Health Act 1967
• Dangerous trees, those that have been assessed by the Council as posing an immediate or impending risk to persons or property
• Trees that are causing an obstruction that cannot be fixed or made better using an appropriate and proportionate engineering solution (section 20 of the Equality Act 2010)
• A Planning development, provided that the Planning Directorate has specifically granted permission to fell the tree(s) under the Town and Planning Act 1990
• Emergency operational works where a Statutory Undertaker (Utility Company etc.) may require the felling of a tree in order to carry out the required statutory emergency works

There are currently no consultations running. 

Following the consultation, if it is decided a tree needs to be cut down, the notice will remain in the following places until the tree has been removed:

• on the street tree or trees
• on these webpages

We will publish the response to the consultation as soon as we can after the consultation has closed.

The response will be posted no later than 28 day before the tree(s) is removed.

Make a complaint

If at the end of a consultation you are unhappy with the Council's decision, you can make a complaint using our complaints process, see How to complain.

There is no obligation on the Council to keep the street tree until the complaint has been looked at.