Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Baroness Grender and Baroness Young of Old Scone

Report stage
Wednesday 29th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Grender (LD)]

My Lords, Amendment 199 is about heritage trees, and I thank everyone who has stayed for this debate. A special thank you goes to the noble Baroness, Lady Young of Old Scone, who has worked on this for far longer than me.

The existing mechanisms for tree preservation prove consistently inadequate when confronted by development pressure. To halt the continual attrition of irreplaceable ecological and historic assets, we must introduce specific mandatory, statutory safeguards. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, for also signing Amendment 199, which achieves this by empowering local planning authorities to make heritage tree preservation orders: HTPOs. A heritage tree is precisely defined as one listed by Natural England based on its exceptional historic, landscape, cultural or ecological importance. They are exceptional—not just any old tree in somebody’s back garden.

Natural England is explicitly tasked with creating, publishing and maintaining this register of heritage trees in England. The measure would guarantee that these assets were afforded all the protections of a standard TPO but mandate significantly more rigorous enforcement and proactive care. Under it, the Secretary of State must make regulations specifying that breaches of an HTPO incur additional or higher penalties. Crucially, the system would move beyond reactive enforcement; the regulations must specifically enable the responsible authority, the planning authority, Natural England or the Secretary of State to order the owner or occupier to take specified, reasonable steps to maintain and protect the tree. If the owner failed to comply within a reasonable timeframe, the authority could execute the work itself and recover the reasonable cost.

This proposal would ensure that these vital historic assets were kept for future generations. It would be financially enforceable and remove uncertainty. Furthermore, transparency would be mandatory: owners must publicly advertise the tree’s status and penalties for harming it in the vicinity. The provision also encourages collaboration through heritage tree partnership agreements between the responsible body and the owner concerning care and costs.

The mechanisms within this amendment would deliver the focused legal protection required for irreplaceable features, moving accountability from discretionary planning guidance to a mandatory framework of enforcement and proactive conservation of our vital heritage trees. I beg to move.

[Baroness Young of Old Scone (Lab)]

My Lords, it would be exceptional if I did not support this amendment, in that it takes the provisions of my Private Member’s Bill and puts them into the amendment—so it would be a bit two-faced of me if I did not support it.

The noble Baroness, Lady Grender, has laid out clearly what the issue is. It is a very important issue in the public domain. We saw the outpourings that happened at the Sycamore Gap, and we see every year in the Tree of the Year competition just how many people exert themselves to vote for their favourite heritage tree. We have the beginnings of a register of these trees already in existence. I believe that my optimism, which was raised when the Government commissioned the Tree Council to put forward a report on what should happen, deserves a bit of encouragement, because, as yet, we have not had a very satisfactory response to the Tree Council’s research.

In Committee, I summarised the Government’s position as being that they felt that by saying that these trees were irreplaceable habitats was simply sufficient—but it is clearly not, as they are increasingly being damaged either by demolition or by poor management, so being called an irreplaceable habitat is not having any impact whatever. The second worry that I had in Committee was that, although the Tree Council had come forward with recommendations, it was clear that the Government were not planning to do very much as a result of them. It would be good to hear from the Minister tonight that, with this having been reflected on, there has been a change of heart, and I look forward to the Minister’s response.

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Baroness Grender and Baroness Young of Old Scone

Committee stage
Wednesday 17th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Grender (LD)]

My Lords, Amendments 339 and 345 are in my name; each provides critical innovations for the protection of nature and heritage trees in England.

The new clause proposed by Amendment 339 would introduce wild belt as a legal category in planning considerations and require the Secretary of State to establish protections within six months of the Bill’s passage. The purpose is clear: wild-belt designation would permanently safeguard nature-rich areas and their associated ecosystems, extending well beyond the traditional boundaries of green belts or isolated wildlife reserves.

The UK faces a biodiversity crisis, with only around 3% of England’s land effectively managed for nature, an insufficient figure compared with the country’s 30% by 2030 target for habitat restoration. Current planning policy has lacked a tool for protecting sites in recovery, or those being actively restored to higher ecological value. Amendment 339 would fill this legislative gap, empowering local planning authorities and strategic bodies with guidance for identifying, protecting and reporting on wild-belt sites, and promoting public access to nature-rich spaces.

Wild belt would operate alongside existing designations, such as green belt and sites of special scientific interest, creating new, joined-up areas that enhance ecosystem connectivity. Crucially, wild-belt designation encourages the restoration and protection of not only land but water bodies and wetlands, and I am delighted to be in the same group as the noble Baronesses, Lady Coffey and Lady Bennett, standing up for both ponds and trees. In the long term, it will help address habitat fragmentation, support climate resilience and benefit public health. Natural England estimates that green spaces such as wild belt can save the NHS approximately £2.1 billion annually, through improvements to mental and physical health—a testament to their broad social, as well as ecological, value.

The new clause proposed by Amendment 345 would establish heritage tree preservation orders, responding to a major gap in current tree preservation order law. Existing TPOs focus on amenity, but heritage trees—those of significant historic, ecological or cultural importance—require elevated protection and clear statutory recognition. I thank my noble friend Lady Tyler, the noble Baroness, Lady Young, and the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, for supporting this amendment.

The scale and significance of England’s heritage tree resource are striking. The Ancient Tree Inventory records over 233,000 ancient or veteran trees. Academic modelling suggests that there may be 1.7 million to 2.1 million across the country, indicating underreporting, and therefore associated risks. A single heritage oak tree can support roughly 2,300 species, so the harm or loss of such trees has outsized impacts on biodiversity. Amendment 345 gives planning authorities new powers to issue dedicated preservation orders and sets higher penalties for any damage. The shocking loss of the Sycamore Gap tree underlines the need for this—along with the Whitewebbs oak in Enfield, which has been mentioned by my noble friend Lady Tyler. It would also require advertising of heritage status and associated legal obligations, and develop partnership agreements for long-term management.

Crucially, Amendment 345 would create a statutory register for heritage trees, giving Natural England responsibility for identifying, publishing and maintaining the list. This would promote transparency, consistent protection nationwide and proactive stewardship, not reactive enforcement after harm has occurred. Owners and occupiers would be compelled to take reasonable care of heritage trees and would be liable for costs if the state must intervene, setting a clear expectation for shared custodianship.

This tiny amendment is like an acorn. If it could be planted in this Bill, it might grow into a mighty oak, spreading its branches throughout the nation, and protecting our heritage trees. I hope that the Minister agrees.

[Baroness Young of Old Scone (Lab)]

My Lords, I support the noble Baroness, Lady Grender, on Amendment 345 on heritage trees, to which I put my name. This amendment echoes the key provisions of my heritage tree Private Member’s Bill, which, alas, ran out of road at the last ballot. It remains in my heart, and I shall continue to re-ballot it on every possible occasion.

The noble Baroness, Lady Grender, has ably made the case that heritage trees are really important for history, culture and biodiversity, but they have remarkably little protection and are threatened by development, by deliberate damage—as with the Sycamore Gap tree—by inappropriate management or by sheer neglect and lack of management. The provisions of this amendment would bring protection to these important trees, and there is already the beginnings of a register, as proposed by the amendment, in the Ancient Tree Inventory. The Government have shown signs of interest in this in the past and asked the Tree Council to investigate and report on the issue. The Tree Council submitted its report in spring 2025, and concluded that trees of high social, cultural and environmental value are only indirectly protected, with significant legal gaps, and recommended the development of a “robust and effective system” to ensure that they are safeguarded. Other countries, such as Poland and Italy, have very effective protections.

Examples of socially, culturally and environmentally important trees lost in the last few years include the 300 year-old Hunningham oak near Leamington, which was felled to make way for infrastructure projects in 2020. There was a tree in Hackney called the Happy Man tree, which was the named tree of the year in 2020, but was felled in 2021 to make way for a housing development. There were 60 wonderful ancient lime trees in Wellingborough which were felled in favour of a dual carriageway in 2023. There are lots of examples of historic and culturally important trees, as well as their biodiversity significance, simply failing to be protected. I think that the outpouring of grief and rage that arose from the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree shows just how much the public value these trees, and, indeed, that was reflected in the sentencing.

I asked the Government in a Written Question on 17 July what progress they had made in implementing the recommendations of the Tree Council. The noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, replied:

“We are carefully considering expert recommendations laid out in the Tree Council and Forest Research report. It will be important”—


note the weasel words here—

“to balance our approach with existing priorities and our statutory obligations. We recognise the value of our most important trees and consider all ancient and veteran trees to be irreplaceable habitats”.

I ask just three questions of the Minister. First, am I right in summarising her response to my Written Question as, “Push off: they are irreplaceable habitats already. We aren’t going to do anything more to proceed with this report and protect them”? Secondly, if that is not the case, when and if will the Government come forward with an action plan following the Tree Council and Forest Research report? Thirdly, if they are not going to respond to the Tree Council report with an action plan, will she accept this amendment? I look forward to her response.