Trees in and around my property
Who owns the trees in your area
The local parish council or Cambridgeshire County Council (the local highway authority) are the most usual land owners/mangers within residential neighbourhoods.
If you need to find out who owns a piece of land please search at the Land Registry.
Our Housing Department owns and manages a very small amount of land. If you are confident the tree is on our land you can raise a grounds maintenance issue below.
Report a grounds maintenance issue
Orchards
Cambridgeshire has a long and rich history of fruit growing and orchards. Many parish councils have planted and support community orchards. The locations can often be found on their webpages.
For more general information visit:
- Magic Maps (register of old orchards under ‘Habitats and Species’, ‘Habitats’, ‘Woodland’, ‘Priority Habitat Inventory – Traditional Orchards’)
- East of England Apples and Orchards Project (for local heritage fruit trees)
- Common Ground and Apple Day
- OPAL surveying mosses and lichens guides
Working on or near trees
You will need to tell us if you live in a conservation area or the trees have been protected with a Tree Preservation Order.
If the trees are protected you can find detailed information on our Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs).
For advice on submitting a tree works application please visit our tree works page.
Trees in conservation areas
Trees in conservation areas have protection even if they don't have a Tree Preservation Order (TPO). Carrying out unauthorised work on a protected tree is a criminal offence.
If you live in a Conservation Area and want to work on trees, legally you must give us 6 weeks written notice before work begins.
Conservation area tree works notices are available to view on our website. We will try to contact tree owners when a neighbour submits a notice. The parishes are automatically notified of all tree work notices.
If the trees stand in a Church of England graveyard within a conservation area, or there are Tree Preservation Orders, you will need to submit a tree works notice to us and a faculty application to the Diocese of Ely.
Report a concern
If the complaint is about an evergreen hedge please see our high hedges page.
You can report unauthorised tree work, damage to protected trees or hedgerow removal via our Planning Enforcement page. Please check that permission has not been given via our planning applications database.
If you witness a wildlife crime taking place, call 999. For a non-emergency, call 101. If you would like to give information crime anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.