PART 5 MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL

Felling or lopping of trees and removal of hedgerows
53. (1) Subject to article 54 (trees subject to tree preservation orders), the undertaker may fell, lop, prune, coppice, pollard, or reduce in height or width, any tree or shrub under or within or overhanging any part of the land within the Order limits, or cut back its roots, if the undertaker reasonably believes it to be necessary to do so to prevent the tree, shrub, hedgerow or important hedgerow—
(a) from obstructing or interfering with the construction, maintenance, operation or decommissioning of the authorised project or any apparatus used in connection with the authorised project; or
(b) from constituting a danger to persons constructing, maintaining, operating or decommissioning the authorised project.
(2) In carrying out any activity authorised by paragraph (1)—
(a) the undertaker must not cause any unnecessary damage to any tree, shrub or hedgerow, or important hedgerow;
(b) the undertaker must pay compensation to any person for any loss or damage arising from such activity;
(c) the duty in section 206(1) (replacement of trees) of the 1990 Act does not apply; and
(d) for the purposes of section 9 (requirement of licence for felling) of the 1967 Act, any felling comprised in carrying out of any work or operation required for the purposes of, or in connection with, the construction of the authorised development, is deemed to be immediately required for the purpose of carrying out development authorised by planning permission granted under the 1990 Act.
Section 9 was amended by section 4 of, and paragraph 14(1) of Schedule 2 to, the Planning (Consequential Provisions) Act 1990 (c. 11) and S.I. 2013/755. There are other amendments to section 9 that are not relevant to this Order.
(3) Any dispute as to a person’s entitlement to compensation under paragraph (2)(b), or as to the amount of compensation, must be determined as if it were a dispute under Part 1 (determination of questions of disputed compensation) of the 1961 Act.
(4) Subject to paragraph (2), the undertaker may, for the purposes of carrying out the authorised project—
(a) remove any hedgerow within the area edged and shaded purple and labelled “area of hedgerows to be removed” on the plan of potentially affected hedgerows and trees subject to preservation orders; and
(b) without limitation on the scope of sub-paragraph (a) and with the consent of the relevant planning authority, remove or translocate any other hedgerow within the Order limits that is required to be removed.
(5) The grant of consent of the relevant planning authority pursuant to paragraph (4)(b) must not be unreasonably withheld.
(6) The undertaker may not, pursuant to paragraph (1), fell or lop a tree within or overhanging the extent of highway maintainable at the public expense without the consent of the highway authority.
(7) The power conferred by paragraph (1) removes any obligation upon the undertaker to secure any consent to remove hedgerows or any part thereof under the Hedgerows Regulations 1997.
S.I. 1997/1160, amended by S.I. 2006/1177, S.I. 2009/1307, S.I. 2013/755 and S.I. 2015/377.
(8) In this article “hedgerow” has the same meaning as in the Hedgerow Regulations 1997 and includes important hedgerows.