There are four small hawthorn trees which used to be part of a hedge and are overgrown and unsightly which I wish to remove. My house is grade II listed, therefore I understand the trees are automatically covered by Tree Preservation Orders. In the photo at WL002 you will see (from left to right): (1) the 2 foot high stump of a previous tree (I do not know when this was cut down but it was before I acquired the property in November 2023); (2) a healthy and reasonably proportioned tree which I do NOT wish to remove; (3) a dead tree whose branches are crossing with the tree to the right of it; (4) a living tree and (5) another living tree. It is (1), (4) and (5) which I wish to remove. Trees (4) and (5) were once pollarded and their trucks are accordingly swollen, with their canopy being disproportionately small. The removal will include grinding all the stumps to approximately 1 foot below the soil level. The reason for the work is that the trees (not including tree no. 2) are unsightly and I wish to replace them with a new hedge. The precise location of the stump/trees is indicated with blue crosses on WL001. The trees being removed are not visible to any neighbouring property (the areas to the west, north and east of my property, which are shown in blue hatching on WL001, are open fields used for livestock grazing). The nearest road is Brookstones, about 100m to the south at the end of my drive (this is not shown on WL001, because of the scale of the drawing).

The Water Lane, Brookstones, Sydenham, OX39 4LY