Trees and Hedges - General Information

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The Council is responsible for many trees such as street trees, in parks and allotments, in woodlands, in play areas and in school grounds.

Hedges, trees and shrubs growing along boundaries with roads and footpaths are usually owned by neighbouring landowners. The Council is only responsible for managing trees we own within the highway.

Trees owned by the Council

We take seriously properly managing and maintaining our own trees. We have a programme of regular inspections to record our trees’ condition and take any action that is needed. We respond to requests or concerns about the condition or management of our trees.

We will assess requests about:

Road safety
Concerns about a tree’s general condition
Fallen trees
Hanging branches
Tree roots causing damage or lifting the pavement
Maintenance of street trees

There are some tree-related problems that we do not deal with.

These include:

reducing shade from trees on neighbouring land or property
clearing branches encroaching on overhead utility wires and cables (please contact the relevant utility company)
clearing branches which overhang a property (unless the branches are an unacceptable risk) - you may cut back any overhanging branches to your property boundary
reducing the height of a tree, unless a tree specialist regards its height as hazardous
carrying out work on trees because they may be interfering with television or radio signals
carrying out work due to fallen leaves and similar deposits including sap, blossom, catkins, fruit, nuts, berries, cones and bird droppings
pruning trees to improve views

Trees on land managed by Cartrefi Conwy housing association are their responsibility. Please contact them directly at enquiries@cartreficonwy.org or by phone on 0300 124 0040

Trees near the highway

Landowners' Responsibilities
Owners are responsible for trees and vegetation growing on their property. You have a duty to keep these so they don’t obstruct the highway or cause a danger. Regularly inspecting trees will reduce the liability for accidents.

If you do not maintain your trees, hedges and vegetation to an acceptable standard, we will ask you to take action. The Highways Act 1980 allows us to give notice to landowners, requiring you to maintain overhanging trees and vegetation which can affect the safety of the highway. We give property owners sufficient time to carry out this work before we serve a formal notice. We always look for co-operation first before resorting to legal action. If you fail to take action, the Council may do the work needed and recover costs from you as the landowner.

If there is no immediate danger, we ask you to trim your trees and hedges during the autumn and winter, to avoid disturbing nesting birds and other small breeding mammals. This is in line with the 'Code of Good Practice for Highway Maintenance'.

Footways (pavements): there should be enough width to allow pedestrians, pushchairs and wheelchairs to pass safely.

Roads: There should be enough space for vehicles to gain access, unless there is a Traffic Order restricting the size or height of vehicles that can use a particular road.

When you cut your hedges, you must make sure that you immediately remove any cuttings which fall onto a road or footpath. Hedge cuttings left on roads are dangerous - people may be injured and cyclists can be left stranded if thorns puncture their tyres. You must also remove any cuttings which fall into roadside ditches, road gullies and drainage grips (cut into verges to help with road drainage).

You can get information on whether a tree is protected by law with a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) from the Council's Regulatory Services at cynllunioplanning@conwy.gov.uk.