Appealing a forestry restocking notice
When and how to appeal a forestry restocking notice, what evidence to include, where to send your appeal and how your appeal is decided.
Applies to England
You usually need a felling licence to fell trees in England, unless an exception applies. Read more about the exceptions to needing a felling licence.
Forestry Commission may issue you with a restocking notice if you:
- felled trees without a felling licence when you needed one
- breach the conditions of a felling licence
The notice gives you a deadline for restocking and maintaining trees.
When deciding whether to issue a restocking notice, the Forestry Commission must consider:
- the interests of good forestry and agriculture
- the amenities of the district
- their duty to promote the establishment and maintenance of adequate reserves of growing trees
- any advice from the regional forestry committee responsible for the area
Read more about restocking notices in the Forestry Commission’s enforcement policy guidance notes.
Your right to appeal against a forestry restocking notice
You have the right to appeal against a restocking notice within 3 months of you receiving the restocking notice.
When you can appeal against a forestry restocking notice
You can appeal against a restocking notice either if you:
- believe that you did not need a felling licence when the trees were felled
- disagree with the notice or any of the notice’s conditions
Defra must receive your appeal within 3 months of you receiving the restocking notice.
To appeal, you must justify why you did not need a felling licence or why you disagree with the notice or the notice’s conditions. Read more about when you do and do not need a felling licence.
You may not need a felling licence if you have full planning permission to fell the trees. However, you must have full planning consent in place before you fell the trees. Retrospective or partial planning permission is not a valid exception to requiring a felling licence.
The current timetable for adjudicating restocking notice appeals is approximately 2 years. We are working to reduce this timeline and clear the existing backlog of appeals.
How to appeal against a forestry restocking notice
1. Download a copy of the appeal Form 6a.
2. Complete an appeal Form 6a.
3. Include all your grounds of appeal in the Form 6a. Explain each ground of appeal separately or provide details of which condition of the notice you are objecting to and why.
If you submit additional grounds after the 3-month appeal deadline, they may not be accepted.
4. To help us process your appeal, also add to the Form 6a:
- your restocking notice reference number
- the details of any agent or solicitor representing you (if applicable)
- your proposed alternative outcome or reasonable compromises (if applicable)
- reasons why the trees cannot be planted (if applicable)
5. Sign the Form 6a.
6. Send the completed Form 6a to Defra with any supporting evidence. Your appeal must be received within 3 months of you receiving the restocking notice.
Where to send your appeal
Send your completed Form 6a by email to TreesRegulation@defra.gov.uk.
Add the restocking notice number to the subject line of the email.
If you prefer, post it to:
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Seacole Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
What evidence can support your appeal
When you send your appeal, you can also send us supporting evidence. This is not compulsory, but it may help to make your appeal clearer.
You should provide a contents page for your documents and add a page number to each page. This makes it easier to process your appeal.
If your files are larger than your email account’s file size limit, email the Form 6a only. Tell us in your email that your supporting documents are too large to send. We’ll tell you where to send your supporting documents.
Supporting documents may include:
- correspondence, such as emails and letters
- images of the site
- site surveys
- witness statements
- evidence of full planning permission
- planning documents
- legal documents, such as title deeds
- other documents
What happens after you send your appeal
We’ll email you or write to you to confirm we’ve received your appeal.
The minister will decide if your grounds of appeal can be accepted and if the appeal was received in time.
If your appeal is accepted, we’ll write to you to tell you. Your appeal will then go to a reference committee. Read more about reference committees.
If your appeal is not accepted, we’ll tell you why.
Who decides your appeal
After the reference committee has heard the appeal, the minister considers the reference committee’s report and decides whether to direct the Forestry Commission to withdraw or uphold the restocking notice, with or without modification.
What happens after the decision is made
We’ll send you a letter detailing the minister’s decision and a copy of the reference committee’s report.
If the minister directs the Forestry Commission to withdraw the restocking notice, the Forestry Commission will contact you to confirm that the notice is withdrawn.
If the minister directs the Forestry Commission to modify the restocking notice, the Forestry Commission will contact you with further details.
If the restocking notice is upheld, you must meet the conditions of the restocking notice. If you do not meet the conditions of the restocking notice, the Forestry Commission may issue you with an enforcement notice. Read more about enforcement notices in the Forestry Commission’s enforcement policy guidance notes. See the appealing an enforcement notice page for information about the process.
If you disagree with the appeal decision
You may be able to challenge the decision in the courts if you think the decision is not legally sound.
You should get legal advice if you’re unsure. You can find a solicitor using the Law Society’s Find a Solicitor service.
How to withdraw your appeal
You can withdraw your appeal at any time by emailing Defra TreesRegulation@defra.gov.uk or by writing to Defra:
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Seacole Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
You should include the notice number and your name and address in your correspondence.