Guidance

Appeal against a restocking and enforcement notice

Published 6 September 2024

Applies to England

• Publication for Northern Ireland
• Publication for Scotland
• Publication for Wales

You can appeal to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if you object to:

These notices are made under the Forestry Act 1967 in relation to felling without the authority of a felling licence, or failure to comply with the conditions of a felling licence.

You can request your appeal is referred to a committee for a report, which will inform any decision made by the Secretary of State.   

You must submit your appeal in the correct way, as laid out in the legislation and explained here. It must be received by the Secretary of State within 3 months from the notice being served.  

Enforcement notices served under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999 have a separate appeal process as set out under Appealing an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Enforcement Notice.  

Appealing a restocking notice  

You may appeal a restocking notice if you object to any of the following:  

• the restocking notice itself  
• the conditions in the notice  
• both the notice, and in the event of the notice being upheld, conditions on the notice  

If you appeal a Restocking Notice on the basis that an exemption to the need for a felling licence applied, the burden of proof lies with you to demonstrate that an exemption applies. For more detailed information on exemptions, read Tree felling – getting permission.  

Appealing an enforcement notice  

You may only appeal an enforcement notice on either of the following grounds:  

• the works in question have been carried out in accordance with the conditions of the notice  
• the steps specified in the notice are not required by those conditions  

Enforcement notices will not be enforced for 3 months after they have been served, during which time you may submit an appeal. If an appeal is received within that period, the notice will not be enforced until the appeal is resolved.  

Planning consent granted after the service of a restocking notice or enforcement notice does not supersede that notice.  

The conditions and period specified in the notice still apply if the land is sold or changes ownership. Any new owner must adhere to the conditions of a notice and may be served with an enforcement notice in their own name.  

Restocking notices and enforcement notices are registered as local land charges. This register is routinely checked by conveyancers as part of the buying and selling of land.  

How do I appeal?  

For your appeal to be considered, you must complete and submit one of the following forms:  

• objection to a restocking notice (appeal form 6a)

• objection to a section 24 enforcement notice (appeal form 9)

Email the completed form to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at defra.helpline@defra.gov.uk.    

You can submit an additional hard copy to:  

Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Seacole Building  
2 Marsham Street  
London  
SW1P 4DF  

Your appeal must be received by the Secretary of State within 3 months from the notice being served.  

Please also send a copy of your appeal to the Forestry Commission. This is a safeguard in case your appeal is not acknowledged. It will also provide evidence of when you submitted your appeal, as there is a strict time limit.   

Email: commissioners@forestrycommission.gov.uk  

These forms are based on forms 6a and 9 as laid out in the regulations and can be found in their original versions at legislation.gov.uk.

In these original versions, it is stated that the completed forms should be sent to the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. However, since the regulations were enacted, the functions of the Minister have been transferred to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.  

Frivolous appeals  

If an appeal is considered frivolous (bound to fail) then it is likely to be dismissed by the Secretary of State for Environment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs without further consideration.