The planning system is important and it is essential to understand how it works. Most cases of woods under threat the Woodland Trust deals with relate to planning applications for development affecting ancient woods, parkland and individual ancient trees.

Felling trees and clearing land does not in itself require planning permission. A planning authority could only prevent that from happening by serving an emergency tree preservation order. However, felling may require a felling licence.

The planning system has two parts: forward planning and development control (increasingly known as development management):

• Forward planning consists of planning policies produced by central, regional and local government to guide future development.
• Development control over individual planning proposals is managed by local planning authorities, which must make their decisions within the framework set out by national, regional and local planning policies.

Permitted development covers certain classes of development which do not require a planning application under development control.

Development control over minerals, waste and transport may be carried out by a different planning authority from other types of development, or may be by the same body in the case of unitary authorities.

“Development” covers building work, and changes of use of buildings and land.

Planning Policy Wales (PPW) provides overarching principles of planning in the country. The policies provided in this guidance should be reflected in local development plans. PPW provides the best national protection for ancient woodland of any country in the UK stating: “ancient and semi-natural woodlands are irreplaceable habitats of high biodiversity value which should be protected from development that would result in significant damage.” It also states: “local planning authorities should seek to protect trees, groups of trees and areas of woodland where they have natural heritage value or contribute to the character or amenity of a particular locality.” (PPW para 5.2.8).

There are 22 unitary counties and three national park authorities which are all supposed to have prepared unitary development plans (UDPs) for their areas. These provide the framework within which individual planning applications are considered.

UDPs are generally produced in consultation draft form (often replaced or preceded by an issues report), before a formal deposit draft is published. After a consultation period, the planning authority considers any representations, and may issue proposed changes in an attempt to overcome at least some of the objections and then publish subsequent drafts (second deposit draft).

If you are concerned about a specific development proposal, you need to check the stage of the UDP. If you can still feed comments in on the development proposal, then the earlier in the process the better. You can feed comments in through formal consultation procedures as set out by the council.

You need to check the details of the development proposal set out in the plan. It is also helpful to check what protection ancient woods and trees have under the plan and ensure that it provides adequate protection in line with PPW. If the proposal is contrary to the plan, or to policies contained in the plan, this will add weight to your campaign.

If the development has been approved in a previous plan and the land is designated for that use then you need to engage with the ‘development control system’ which involves objecting to specific planning applications (see Planning permission for more details).

You can comment on development plans even if you are not concerned about a specific proposal. Ensuring the plan contains the best possible protective policies for woodland and trees will pre-empt development proposals that could lead to their damage or loss. When commenting on development plans you can refer to national planning policy guidance.

• Your local council’s website, planning policy office or local library should be able to provide you with details of the UDP.
   
• The document 'Unitary Development Plans - A Guide to Procedures' is available from the UDP page of the Welsh Assembly website, along with other useful information about UDPs in Wales.

• The English planning system
   
• The Scottish planning system
   
• The planning system in Northern Ireland
   
• Planning permission
   
• Permitted development in Britain
   
• Planning appeals and public inquiries
   
• Minerals applications
   
• British Standard 5837 – trees and development
   
• The local government ombudsmen