South East Tree Care has so far resisted all enforcement action from Sutton Council
A tree surgery and landscaping company has been accused of “wrecking” green belt land at its Wallington site where it’s facing enforcement action by Sutton Council.
Local activists say the site has been significantly degraded since the company began operating during the Covid pandemic, with heavy HGV traffic, thick dust, noise and lighting affecting the area throughout the day.
While Sutton Council has issued an enforcement notice with demands that South East Tree Care Ltd (SETC) ceases its operations at the site due to alleged planning breaches, local residents fear nothing is going to change in the short term. This is due to an appeal over the enforcement notice being heard later this month, potentially slowing down the process of stopping the work at the site, and there being no visible signs of operations ceasing.
“It’s like every rule in the book has been broken,” one Wallington resident, who did not want to be named, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) during a recent visit to the site.
SETC, which provides arborist services across South London and the South East, began operations at 268 Woodcote Road from late 2020. The site sits on designated metropolitan green belt land, and was previously occupied by fields adjoining two residential properties.
“It was like looking at a Monet,” a local resident said, describing the tranquillity of the former green fields. “One day we saw a deer walking in the grass, that was the last bit of beauty we saw.”
SETC has expanded its operations on the site significantly since 2020, leaving it largely unrecognisable, save for the two residential properties at the front. The site now includes a public gym, caravan, fencing, lighting and scaffolding, alongside SETC’s wood-waste processing and tree-surgery operations.
An enforcement notice issued in April 2026 gave six months for the company to cease forestry operations on the site, as well as stopping waste storage and removing the caravan, gym and dog kennel among other things.
Activists from the Sutton Green Party have spent years documenting what they say is evidence of numerous environmental concerns at the site. They now argue that SETC’s operations are contributing to the “degradation” of the green belt land.
“SETC have been processing waste here illegally since 2020, wrecking the green belt – including the destruction of mature hedgerows, wildlife habitats and meadows” they said.
The LDRS observed a large-scale operation during our visit, with Sany excavator vehicles unloading timber waste from a mound into numerous articulated lorries. This process was seen to emit large plumes of dust above the site.
Green activists believe the lack of screening and dust suppression measures on site mean it is able to reach nearby homes. “It’s the dust that I’m really worried about,” one local resident told the LDRS, while presenting box of dust they said had accumulated on their property.
The Green activists have also shared footage with the LDRS which appears to show non timber related waste, including metal and building waste, being cleared on site.
While traffic is already an issue on the narrow Woodcote Road, residents believe the regular HGV movements to and from the site pose a danger to pedestrians.
“We lose count of how many HGVs go in,” a resident told the LDRS. They also recalled an incident in which they claim an HGV mounted the pavement opposite, narrowly missing them and a family member.
The LDRS also observed a white van entering and leaving the SETC site without a front registration plate.
A five-year planning battle
Despite years of residents complaints and pressure from local campaigners, Sutton Council are still yet to secure a lasting enforcement outcome against SETC. The Lib Dem council issued its first enforcement notice against the operator in February 2024.
However, SETC appealed, leading to a public inquiry in October 2024. A planning inspector later quashed the council’s enforcement notice after finding it had failed to properly include the tree-surgery business in its description of the unauthorised mixed use.
It also ruled that correcting the error during the appeal would cause ‘procedural injustice’.
The council then issued another enforcement notice in October 2025 after telling residents it would pursue renewed enforcement action. However, this notice was withdrawn in March 2026, with the parties disputing whether this was because it was legally invalid or contained a minor administrative error.
The lack of effective enforcement action was even raised in Parliament last year by Carshalton and Wallington’s Lib Dem MP Bobby Dean. He said: “Residents in the Woodcote area of my constituency have been living with the misery of being opposite an illegal waste dump for years.
“Despite all the photographic and video evidence that they produce, nobody seems to be able to shut the site down. Can the minister look into what level of proof is required to take action, because it seems obvious to everyone that what is going on is wrong, but nobody seems to be able to put an end to it?”
The minister told Dean to contact the Environment Agency (EA) regarding the level of evidence needed for a prosecution. However, the Green activists believe an apparent lack communication between Sutton and the EA have contibuted to the delays in enforcement.
What happens next?
SETC appealed the current enforcement notice in June, arguing the site comprises separate businesses rather than a single planning unit. It is also seeking 12 months to relocate and is challenging the way the enforcement notice was served on a resident living in a caravan on the site.
Separately, SETC has requested a High Court judicial review against the council, alleging procedural failings following a Planning Contravention Notice.
The Planning Inspectorate has declined to pause the appeal while the court considers permission for the judicial review. A three-day public inquiry is now due to open on September 22.
Sutton Council said it “would not be appropriate” to comment at this time, given the live enforcement case.
SETC was approached for comment.
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