An Ulverston man has ordered to pay over £5,000 for allowing a protected tree to be cut down.
David Armer, 72, of Hill Top, Lightburn Road, was prosecuted by South Lakeland District Council for the offence under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
Mr Armer pleaded guilty to the unauthorised felling when he appeared at Barrow Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
He was fined £1,583 and ordered to pay the council’s costs of £3,597 and a victim surcharge of £633.
The case related to the unauthorised felling of a sycamore tree at Hill Top, protected by Lancashire County Council Tree Preservation Order No.5 1958 sometime between April 2022 to May 2022.
Mr Armer’s position was that he did not know the tree was subject to a TPO and that he believed the tree to be unsafe.
No evidence was provided to support the claim that the tree was unstable or posed a safety risk.
Graham Nicholson, the council’s arboriculture specialist, said: “Tree Preservation Orders are served for an important reason – to give much-needed legal protection to trees which bring significant amenity benefit to the surrounding area.
“Breaching an order is unacceptable and the council will take action if protected trees are damaged.
“Information about TPOs is freely available and we would encourage anybody considering carrying out works to a tree to first check with their local planning authority whether or not a TPO is in place.”
