Developer Hill (Pound Lane) LLP fined after damaging nearly 30 protected trees at Docking development

A developer has been ordered to pay nearly £8,000 after admitting damaging 27 protected trees.

A contractor working on behalf of Hill (Pound Lane) LLP dug a 30-metre trench within two metres of the base of the trees, next to its site off High Street in Docking, severing some roots and removing others altogether.

But in court today, Lynn magistrates said it was up to the developer to ensure its contractor was aware of the status of the trees, which were all subject to tree preservation orders (TPOs), and bore responsibility for their actions.

The company, which is registered in Essex, was charged with four offences - one for each type of tree involved - under the Tree Preservation Regulations of the Town and Country Act, 1990.

Appearing for Hill (Pound Lane) LLP, John Thistlethwaite, a director of the company, pleaded guilty to all four charges.

West Norfolk Council’s cabinet member for planning, Cllr Jim Moriarty, said: “This case is about the importance of respecting TPOs and the role they play in protecting our environment and community spaces.

“The damage caused by the severing of tree roots can put the long-term health of trees at risk, which is why the council took action.

“We want to highlight that these actions have consequences because we have noticed an increase in this type of crime as some developers perceive it to be an unimportant issue.

“We always encourage developers to work with us to ensure trees are properly considered in their plans, and we remain committed to upholding these protections to safeguard our natural assets for future generations.”

The court heard that the incident occurred after a 33-home development was completed but one of the new owners had complained of flooding in their back garden.

Hill had used a different contractor to return to the site to deal with the issue, and this contractor had dug a 30m trench within two metres of the base of an oak, seven sweet chestnut trees, two hybrid black poplars and 17 Scots pine trees.

Some of the roots had been severed but left in place, while others had been removed completely and placed elsewhere on the site.

These actions were discovered by the borough council’s arboricultural officer, who happened to visit the site on another matter in April last year. He referred the matter to the authority’s planning enforcement team, which took action.

Representing the council, Bronwyn Sellick said no consent had been sought or granted for this work, and noted it was not the first time that Hill had been involved in an incident involving protected trees on this site.

She suggested to magistrates that the work fell into the ‘reckless’ category because it was so close to the boundary that any reasonable person would have seen the damage likely to be caused.

It was argued that the company had a tree protection plan, should have known, and should have prevented the damage.

It was not possible at this stage to say what the long-term effects were - but they could include reduced stability, inability to self-sustain in younger trees, and greater susceptibility to disease, Ms Sellick said.

Mitigating, Ruth Sheret noted that Hill had admitted its responsibility and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

She said it had not been possible to use the original contractor and that Hill’s main offence was in using a different contractor not familiar with the site.

There were no aggravating features in the case, and she pointed to the fact that in the earlier incident in 2023, the matter had been dealt with through retrospective planning permission.

Magistrates told Hill (Pound Lane) LLP that it bore the ultimate responsibility for the work of its contractors.

They fined the company £2,000, and also ordered it to pay costs of £5,004.70 and a victim surcharge of £800.