Can the imposition of a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) prevent development ?
While a TPO is a restriction on the land, it is not as powerful an instrument as a full planning permission. Thus a TPO cannot and should not be used to frustrate or prevent development. Once served, a TPO becomes ‘a material factor’ in assessing development proposals, but it does not normally prevent development in its own right except on very constrained sites, and a planning approval can override it.
