Schedule 1: The electronic communications code Part 13: Rights to lop trees
Part 13 of the code allows operators in applicable circumstances to lop trees or other vegetation that overhangs a street in England and Wales or Northern Ireland or a road in Scotland. Part 13 replicates what was paragraph 19 of the existing code in Schedule 2 to the Telecommunications Act 1984, but in addition extends the right to lop trees to include the lopping or cutting back of vegetation other than trees.
	Under paragraph 82, the operator may require the tree to be lopped or vegetation to be cut back where it overhangs the street. If no objection is made by the owner of the land on which the tree or vegetation is situated within 28 days of the operator giving notice of that requirement, the operator may itself have the tree lopped or the vegetation cut back. If the owner of the tree or of other vegetation objects within the relevant time period, the court (see Part 16, paragraph 94) decides the matter. The operator must reimburse the landowner for any expenses associated with the lopping or cutting back, or for any loss or damage caused. This right applies to trees that are protected by a tree preservation order and trees in conservation areas but, by virtue of paragraph 99(1) of the code, is subject to the provisions of any relevant tree preservation legislation. Such legislation provides certain exceptions for statutory undertakers including operators.