Located on the boundary of 6 Castlemews St Leonards and St Ives, BH24 2BG and 7 Castlemews St Leonards and St… Data via plota.co.uk

P/TRT/2026/02835 - Tree Works- TPO Refused

Proposal

(Located on adjoining land to the rear of 6 Castlemews), Tree 1 Pine, - Remove branches overhanging the garden of 6 Castlemews., - Reduce the height crown/partial reduction by 50%., Tree 2 Pine, - Remove branches overhanging the garden of 6 Castlemews., - Reduce the height crown/partial reduction by 50%., - Reduce 2x branches either side of the bird box., Tree 3 Pine, - Remove branches overhanging the garden of 6 Castlemews., - Reduce the height crown/partial reduction by 50%., Tree 4 Pine, - Remove branches overhanging the garden of 6 Castlemews., - Reduce the height crown/partial reduction by 50%., Tree 5 Pine, - Remove branches overhanging the garden of 6 Castlemews., - Reduce the height crown/partial reduction by 50%., (Trees 1 - 5 reductions as indicated in submitted annotated photographs by white outlines), (Located on the boundary of 6 Castlemews and 7 Castlemews), Tree 6 Pine, - Remove branches overhanging the garden of 6 Castlemews., - Reduce the height crown/partial reduction by 50%. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
27 Jul 2026
✗
Refused
24 Aug 2026
Appeal
Not lodged

Refused on 24 Aug 2026 · Delegated · Last checked 10 Sept 2026

Site constraints 9

Special area of conservation: Dorset Heaths
2 designations overlap here. A habitats assessment is needed.
Harm to a protected site is only accepted where there is no alternative and an overriding public interest.
SSSI: St Leonards and St Ives Heaths SSSI
Natural England must be consulted on work that may affect it.
Sites of special scientific interest are the best wildlife and geological sites in the country. Development likely to harm one is rarely permitted.
Green belt: South West Hampshire
Inappropriate development needs very special circumstances.
Green belt policy allows a short list of exceptions, such as limited extensions and replacement buildings. Anything else needs very special circumstances that clearly outweigh the harm. Some green belt land can count as grey belt, where it does not strongly serve the green belt's purposes. The council decides this in its green belt assessment or on each application, so we do not mark it here.
Read the government guidance ↗
Nutrient neutrality catchment: River Avon SAC
New homes and overnight accommodation must show nutrient neutrality before approval.
Natural England advice: extra wastewater in these catchments harms protected habitats, so schemes must offset their nutrient load, usually through credits.
Article 4 direction
Avon Castle & Matchams Park Estate. Named permitted development rights are withdrawn here.
An Article 4 direction withdraws particular permitted development rights, so work that would normally need no application needs one here. Not every council has published its directions.
Open access land
Open country or registered common land, with a right to roam on foot.
Building on registered common land needs the consent of the Secretary of State as well as planning permission.
Priority habitat: No main habitat but additional habitats present
A habitat of principal importance. It shapes the ecology work and the biodiversity net gain a scheme has to show.
Agricultural land, grade 3b
Not best and most versatile land (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Source: the Predictive Agricultural Land Classification Map (Defra and Natural England, 2025; the Welsh Government's Predictive ALC Map 2 in Wales), a model rather than a site survey. A site survey can differ.
Where development of farmland is needed, policy prefers poorer land over the best and most versatile (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Three sources: Natural England's post-1988 field surveys, which are definitive where they exist; the Defra predictive map for England (2025) and the Welsh Government predictive map, modelled from the soil map with 3a and 3b split; and the 1970s provisional map, which planners and other services still show, coarser and with grade 3 undivided. Where the provisional and predicted grades disagree, treat the predicted grade as the current estimate and expect an application to carry its own survey.
Habitat network: Sssi
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · No listed building at the site · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 2026. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

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Important details

Council
Dorset
Application type
Tree Works- TPO
Postcode
BH24 2BG
Received
27 Jul 2026
Validated
27 Jul 2026
Ward
St. Leonards and St. Ives Ward
Parish
St. Leonards and St. Ives
Case officer
Show
Decision
Tree Works - TPO - Refused
Decision date
24 Aug 2026
Decision level
Delegated
Applicant
Show

How this decision compares

Decided in 28 days from validation, about the council's usual 25 days. Refused, as 5% of tree and landscaping works here are.

99%decided within 8 weeks
95%approved
1,636decided in the last year

Plota live figures for tree and landscaping works decided by Dorset in the last twelve months, from validation. Dorset decision record →

Consultation & key dates

Comments by
18 Aug 2026
Dorset
Planning Authority Score
7.5/10
Good
#44 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Dorset is faster than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #51 out of 296. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (95%) than the national average (90%).

Faster than most councils
for householder decisions
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Dorset decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
92%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #80 of 296
95%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #74 of 296
78%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #51 of 296
35%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #102 of 296
81%
Minor dwellings approved
344 decided (1-9 homes)
85%
Major dwellings approved
40 decided (10+ homes)
76%
Change of use approved
85 decided
2,781
Total decisions
233 refused in the year to March 2026