West Norfolk Council under fire for having ‘no idea’ how many protected trees have been cut down

West Norfolk Council is under fire for having “no idea” how many protected trees may have been cut down or damaged.

Trees and woodland can be granted protection orders which prevent work from being carried out on them without permission.

However, it was revealed at a borough council meeting last week that the authority does not monitor protected trees regularly.

A member of the public, Ms Irwing, challenged the council on the issue, asking how many trees with TPOs have been lost since the rules came into force in 2005.

But Cllr Jim Moriarty, cabinet member for development, was unable to answer.

He said: “I answer this question with trepidation. I do not know. The council does not proactively monitor TPOs.”

He added the council relies on members of the public and other local authorities to report any damage, calling this system “successful”.

Ms Irwing said she was “disappointed” the council did not have an answer and called for there to be better monitoring.

However, there was some positive news as Cllr Moriarty said the council is reviewing its systems and intends to launch a new map in the future to make it easier to identify protected trees.