Tribunal’s compensation for refusing felling consent under TPO quashed (South Gloucestershire Council v Burge)

Article summary

Planning analysis: In South Gloucestershire Council v Burge, the Court of Appeal held that the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) erred in its approach to an award of compensation for loss incurred as a consequence of consent being refused for the felling of a tree protected by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO), whose roots caused damage to a conservatory nearby. The Tribunal had focussed only on the question of whether the claimants actually did know of the risk, rather than whether they ought to have known of it, and did what they reasonably could to avoid or mitigate the loss.