Landscape work permit
In the zoned area, the owner or holder of the property must apply for a landscape work permit in accordance with the Land Use and Building Act for felling trees, earthworks that change the landscape, and similar measures that change the landscape. In a development plan area, a landscape work permit must be applied for if so provided in the master plan. Landscape work permits are not required for carrying out work under a building or action permit or for measures with minor impacts. In Kuopio, a landscape work permit is granted by regional environmental protection services (environmental director).
Cutting down trees in a zoned area
A low-impact felling of individual trees can be carried out without the permission of regional environmental protection services, provided that all of the following conditions are met:
- The trees are located on a plot you control.
- A maximum of three trees are felled and the number of trees to be felled does not exceed half of the total number of trees on the plot.
- The trees to be felled are located inside the plot, not on the street side.
- The trees to be felled do not grow on a part of the plot where the city plan states that there must be trees (for example, the part preserved in the natural state of the plot, marked pl in the city plan). You can check the city plan in the Kuopio map service.
- The trees are not scenically significant. Scenically significant trees include handsome single old trees, tree groups, rows of trees and similar, the loss of which would have an essentially detrimental effect on the landscape.
- The removal of trees is a one-off and not continuous activity.
If the above conditions are not met, you will need a permit or a statement on the need for regional environmental protection services to fell the trees.
An environmentally hazardous tree can be felled without permission if the action is necessary to eliminate an immediate hazard. If necessary, it must also be possible to prove the hazardous nature of the tree afterwards. For example, the risk of tearing caused by snow loads alone is not a sufficient basis for felling. If there is no immediate danger, the normal permit procedure also applies to trees in poor condition.
Learn more:
Landscape work permit application – E form
Jouni Hoffren