The section 211 conservation-area notice: what it actually costs.
Both Sittingbourne town centre and Milton Regis sit inside conservation areas. The notice itself is free to file. Getting it wrong is not. Here's the real cost on both sides of that equation.
What the rule actually catches
Under section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, anyone intending to prune, fell or otherwise work on a tree with a stem over 75mm diameter at 1.5m height, inside a conservation area, must give the local planning authority six weeks' written notice before starting. Swale Borough Council administers both the Sittingbourne conservation area (covering parts of the High Street and town centre) and the Milton Regis conservation area (the older market-town core, re-designated after a character appraisal review). Routine cutting of hedging species like privet, laurel and leylandii below the 75mm threshold is exempt - this rule catches individual tree-sized stems within a hedge or garden, not routine hedge trimming.
The cost of doing it right
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Filing the section 211 notice | £0 | No fee is charged by Swale Borough Council to submit the notice |
| Our admin time to file it for you | £0 | Included in every quote for affected work - never shown as a separate line |
| Waiting period | 6 weeks | Statutory minimum before work can start, unless the council responds sooner with no objection |
The only real "cost" of doing this properly is time: build the six-week window into your planning if your tree is affected.
The cost of not doing it
Carrying out work on a protected tree in a conservation area without giving notice, or before the six weeks has run, is a criminal offence. Penalties for unauthorised work on protected trees can run into thousands of pounds per tree in the most serious cases, and the council can require replacement planting of a similar tree at the owner's cost on top of any fine. "I didn't know it was a conservation area" is not a defence - it's the homeowner's and the contractor's job to check before cutting, not the council's job to warn you first.
| Consequence | Typical scale |
|---|---|
| Unauthorised work fine | Case-dependent, can run into thousands per tree in serious cases |
| Required replacement planting | Cost of a similar-species replacement tree plus establishment, at owner's expense |
| Delayed project | Any dependent landscaping or building work stalls until the matter is resolved |
We don't have a precise current Swale Borough Council fine schedule to quote as a fixed figure, and wouldn't invent one - the point that matters is the notice costs nothing and the risk of skipping it is real and open-ended.
How we handle it
Before quoting any job on a stem near the 75mm threshold in Sittingbourne town centre or Milton Regis, we check the conservation-area boundary and measure the stem. If a notice is needed, we file it as part of the job at no extra cost and build the six-week window into your schedule - which is one reason we ask you to book reduction work ahead of when you actually want it done, covered in our timing and cost guide.
If you're weighing up whether a job in a conservation area is worth doing yourself, see our DIY vs professional cost comparison - the compliance risk is one more factor worth adding to that column.
Want an itemised quote?
Not sure if your hedge or tree is inside the conservation area boundary? Email hello@sittingbournehedges.co.uk or call/WhatsApp 07763 100 477. We'll come back with labour, waste and access costed separately.
Sources: Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 211; Swale Borough Council Sittingbourne Conservation Area Review (2023) and Milton Regis Conservation Area Character Appraisal (2023); Swale Borough Council planning enforcement guidance on protected trees.