Hedge rules near the Park and the church: cut now, or wait for notice?
Goodnestone Park is a Registered Park and Garden of Special Historic Interest, and the Grade I listed Holy Cross Church sits right beside it. Neither designation stops routine hedge cutting outright, but if a boundary hedge near either has a stem over 75mm at chest height, you're choosing between two real options, and it's worth understanding the actual trade-off before deciding.
The decision: cut on the spot, or file the section-211 notice first
Under section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, any tree with a stem over 75mm diameter at 1.5m height, inside a conservation area (Goodnestone has one on Dover District Council's list), needs six weeks' written notice to Dover District Council before pruning. For a hedge that's genuinely just routine hedging species trimmed to a formal line, this usually doesn't apply. But once a boundary hedge has grown tree-sized stems, close to the Park's own walls or the churchyard, the question becomes real.
Pros of filing the notice and waiting
- Completely removes the risk of an unauthorised-works fine, which GOV.UK puts at up to £20,000 in the magistrates' court and unlimited in the Crown Court if the work should have been notified.
- Gives the council the chance to make a Tree Preservation Order if the tree deserves one (it cannot refuse a notice), and it means the work is unambiguously above board.
- Six weeks is often shorter than it sounds if you're planning the job anyway, most quotes and scheduling take some lead time regardless.
Cons of filing the notice and waiting
- Six weeks is a real delay if the hedge is actively causing a problem, blocking a sightline at a junction, or growing into a structure.
- It's extra admin for what might turn out to be routine trimming, if the stems genuinely don't reach 75mm, the notice was never required and the wait was unnecessary.
- If the council makes no Tree Preservation Order within the six weeks, you can go ahead within two years, but a nervous owner may still want the council's reply on file.
How to actually decide
Measure first. A tape measure on the thickest stem at 1.5m off the ground tells you which side of 75mm you're on, and that single number decides the question far more often than the surrounding worry does. If you're under the threshold, there's no notice requirement at all and this whole trade-off doesn't apply. If you're over it and the hedge sits within sight of the Park's boundary or the churchyard, I file the notice as standard practice, not because it's always strictly required, but because a wrong guess on a genuinely borderline stem is expensive to get wrong and cheap to get right.
Does nesting season change the timeline?
Yes, separately from the section-211 question. It's an offence under section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to intentionally damage or destroy an active wild bird's nest, and the main nesting season runs 1 March to 31 August, extending into September for late broods. A mature boundary hedge near the Park is exactly the kind of mixed, undisturbed cover that birds nest in, so this often ends up being the longer of the two waits, not the council notice.
What can go wrong
The mistake I see is guessing at the stem diameter rather than measuring it, and either filing an unnecessary notice on a hedge that never needed one, or skipping a genuinely required notice on a hedge that did. Both waste time in different directions. The other mistake is assuming "near the Park" means every hedge on the same road needs notice, it doesn't, the trigger is the stem diameter, not proximity alone.
Related guides
- How to get permission to prune a tree in Goodnestone conservation area: do it yourself or have it prepared?
- Tree Preservation Orders and hedge-line trees: apply for consent or check an exemption first?
- Overgrown hedge: DIY reduction or call a professional?
- Received a section 154 notice? What to do about a hedge or tree
Not sure which side of 75mm your hedge is on?
Send a photo and a rough measurement to hello@goodnestonehedges.co.uk or call 07763 100 477. I'll tell you honestly whether the notice applies before any work starts.
Sources: Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 211; Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1; Historic England, Goodnestone Park Registered Park and Garden listing; Holy Cross Church, Goodnestone, Grade I listing (Historic England).