Tim Burton wins planning row with neighbours over bid to prune or chop down 15 trees

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Edward Scissorhands director Tim Burton wins planning row with neighbours over bid to prune or chop down 15 trees in garden of his £11m Edwardian mansion in north London

  • Tim Burton got permission to tamper with 15 trees in Hampstead, London 
  • A silver birch and viburnum were protected by a tree preservation order 
  • Order is made by planning authorities to protect trees in ‘interests of amenity’
  • But Camden Council today gave the green light for the work in the rear garden
  • The move will no-doubt infuriate local conservationists in the upmarket area  

By Jemma Carr For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Tim Burton has won a planning row to cut or fell 15 trees in the garden of his £11million Edwardian mansion.

The Edward Scissorhands director, 62, applied for permission to tamper with 15 trees in his home in Hampstead, London.

Some were protected by a tree preservation order which is made by a local planning authority to protect trees or woodlands in the ‘interests of amenity’. 

But Camden Council today gave Burton the green light for the work in his rear garden with the authority saying it has ‘no objection to works to trees’.

The move will no-doubt infuriate local conservationists in the upmarket area.

The Hampstead Conservation Area Advisory Committee had been lobbying the council to refuse Burton’s request.

Tim Burton has won a planning row to cut or fell 15 trees in the garden of his £11million Edwardian mansion (pictured)

The Edward Scissorhands director, 62, applied for permission to tamper with 15 trees in his home in Hampstead, London. Pictured: Burton's garden

The Edward Scissorhands director, 62, applied for permission to tamper with 15 trees in his home in Hampstead, London. Pictured: Burton’s garden

Camden Council today gave Burton (pictured) the green light for the work in his rear garden with the authority saying it has 'no objection to works to trees'.

Camden Council today gave Burton (pictured) the green light for the work in his rear garden with the authority saying it has ‘no objection to works to trees’.

The director submitted plans in March, via the firm Treecare Ltd, to get permission to prune or fell 15 trees. The plans affected several yews, oaks and an ash.

What are tree preservation orders? 

Tree preservation orders (TPOs) exist to protect trees which bring a ‘specific amenity benefit’ to a local area.

They can be made to protect any type of tree by the local planning authority, and they make it an offence to cut down, damage, top, lop or wilfully destroy the tree in question.

TPOs do not automatically cover any one species of tree, nor do they cover bushes, hedges or shrubs.

Owners of protected trees are still responsible for the tree, but the local authority’s permission is usually needed if any work is to be done to the tree.

Landowners must plant replacements for trees which are cut down without official permission.

In recent years there have been spates of people damaging or cutting down protected trees to enhance their views.

Burton also wanted to chop down a silver birch and viburnum. Both had tree preservation orders on them – but he claimed the trees had died.

It is these trees that the local environmental group objected to him removing.

Burton bought the five bedroom house, which has a ballroom and roof garden, from actor Tom Conti for £11million in 2018 after he split from actress Helena Bonham Carter. 

Mr Conti, now 79, had bought the house in 1985 with his wife Kara Wilson when it was made up of flats and transformed it into one of London’s finest private homes.

However, Mr Conti – who has appeared in films such as Shirley Valentine and Saving Grace – got embroiled in furious planning rows with celebrity neighbours, such as footballer Thierry Henry.

In 2012, he objected to plans by the former Arsenal star to demolish a neighbouring property and replace it with a funky modern design including a 40-foot fish tank.

Mr Conti created a website to sell the house, and eventually sold it to Mr Burton after slashing the asking price down from £17.5million.

It is thought Mr Burton may have bought the five-bedroom home because of its links to Alice In Wonderland author Lewis Carroll.

It was designed in 1903 by mathematician William Garnett, and its asymmetric layout was supposedly inspired by Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poem Jabberwocky.

The director submitted plans in March, via the firm Treecare Ltd, to get permission to prune or fell 15 trees (pictured on a planning map). The plans affected several yews, oaks and an ash

The director submitted plans in March, via the firm Treecare Ltd, to get permission to prune or fell 15 trees (pictured on a planning map). The plans affected several yews, oaks and an ash

The move will no-doubt infuriate local conservationists in the upmarket area who want to save the trees in the garden (pictured)

The move will no-doubt infuriate local conservationists in the upmarket area who want to save the trees in the garden (pictured)

Tim Burton directed Edward Scissorhands starring Johnny Depp who played the lonely character with scissors for hands. In one scene he uses the scissors to trim a bush (pictured)

Tim Burton directed Edward Scissorhands starring Johnny Depp who played the lonely character with scissors for hands. In one scene he uses the scissors to trim a bush (pictured)

Mr Burton directed the films Alice In Wonderland and Alice Through The Looking Glass, both based on the Victorian author’s books.

The 6,649 square-foot home has a double-height ballroom – which can fit 75 people -with a minstrels’ gallery.

It also has a home cinema, large gardens, a library and a roof terrace with views over London and the Surrey Hills.

The mansion also boasts several dressing rooms, a study and a room dedicated to ‘games and dancing’.

Over the years, the house has supposedly entertained Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, the author Rudyard Kipling and musician David Bowie.