Felling or lopping of trees and removal of hedgerows
36.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and article 37 (trees subject to tree preservation orders) the undertaker may fell or lop any tree or shrub near any part of the authorised development or cut back its roots, if it reasonably believes it to be necessary to do so to prevent the tree or shrub from—
(a)obstructing or interfering with the construction, maintenance, operation or decommissioning of the authorised development or any apparatus used in connection with the authorised development;
(b)constituting a danger to persons using the authorised development; or
(c)obstructing or interfering with the passage of construction vehicles to the extent necessary for the purposes of construction or decommissioning of the authorised development.
(2) In carrying out any activity authorised by paragraph (1) the undertaker must do no unnecessary damage to any tree or shrub and must pay compensation to any person for any loss or damage arising from such activity.
(3) Any dispute as to a person’s entitlement to compensation under paragraph (2), or as to the amount of compensation, is to be determined under Part 1 (determination of questions of disputed compensation) of the 1961 Act.
(4) The undertaker may, for the purposes of the authorised development and subject to paragraph (2) remove the hedgerows specified in column 2 of the table in Schedule 12 (hedgerows to be removed) for the purpose specified in relation to the relevant hedgerow in column 3 of that table.
(5) The undertaker may not pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (4) fell or lop a tree or remove hedgerows within the extent of the publicly maintainable highway without the prior consent of the highway authority.
(6) In this article “hedgerow” has the same meaning as in the Hedgerows Regulations 1997(1).