Test results for Tree preservation order - apply for one

Here is the table of test results for this task. The score on each row is out of a possible total of 20, and the importance column is a rating of 1-5 according to how important testers considered being able to complete this task was.

Filter within results: or click headings to sort.

CouncilNavigationA-ZGoogleSite searchScoreTestsImportance
Birmingham City CouncilEasyEasyVery easy143
Birmingham City CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy163
Birmingham City CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy163
Birmingham City CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy-33
Bracknell Forest CouncilDifficultEasyEasy83
Cambridgeshire County CouncilVery easyVery easyGave up-63
Carlisle City CouncilGave upEasyDifficult-20
Cheshire East CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy203
Copeland Borough CouncilVery easyGave upGave up-93
Coventry City CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy181
Coventry City CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy123
Dudley Metropolitan Borough CouncilVery easyGave upGave up-93
Dumfries and Galloway CouncilGave upVery easyGave up-90
Great Yarmouth Borough CouncilEasyEasyEasy143
Great Yarmouth Borough CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy160
Great Yarmouth Borough CouncilGave upDifficultVery easy43
Lambeth CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy200
Leeds City CouncilGave upDifficultGave up-80
Liverpool City CouncilVery easyVery easyGave up85
Liverpool City CouncilVery easyVery easyGave up85
Liverpool City CouncilVery easyVery easyGave up85
Liverpool City CouncilGave upGave upGave up-120
Manchester City CouncilVery easyGave upGave up-93
Northumberland County CouncilEasyEasyEasy103
Nottingham City CouncilGave upEasyGave up-21
Nottinghamshire County CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy103
Plymouth City CouncilVery easyEasyEasy73
Ribble Valley Borough CouncilGave upGave upGave up-121
Wandsworth CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy83
West Lindsey District CouncilGave upGave upGave up-123

Specific comments made about this task

Birmingham City Council - 2013-12-18
Navigation from planning was labelled 'request a new tpo'.

Birmingham City Council - 2014-02-06
They were all very easy. On the Navigation, I went onto the planning and building section and eventually found it by scrolling right down into the 'Conservation' section. Overall, this was good and most of it was relevant and very well organised.

Birmingham City Council - 2014-02-06
They were all very easy. On the Navigation, I went onto the planning and building section and eventually found it by scrolling right down into the 'Conservation' section. Overall, this was good and most of it was relevant and very well organised.

Birmingham City Council - 2016-07-18
Couldn't find anything

Bracknell Forest Council - 2014-03-18
A-z link didn't go to TPO page. Not easy to find out if a tree has a TPO

Cambridgeshire County Council - 2018-02-20
Internal search for tree preservation orders gave as 'Top Results' Youth Offending Service, Digitisation and Scanning, and Document conservation service amongst other links.

Carlisle City Council - 2014-06-17
The tree preservation order page doesn't tell you how to apply for a TPO, only how to apply for an exemption to carry out work on a protected tree. Also it refers to a "form below" which I couldn't find. I did find out (under trees - FAQs) that you can contact the council if you think a tree needs to be protected - that's the closest you get to applying for a TPO on this website.

Copeland Borough Council - 2014-02-13
The page about tree preservation orders had information about what you can do to a tree with a TPO, but no information about how to apply for one for a tree. And it had yet another useless large image

Coventry City Council - 2014-02-04
the navigation result was almost impossible. i went into the apply section and couldn't find the task anywhere, even when i expanded the apply page. however, the other three methods were alot easier as i found what i was looking for. in the internal search results part, before i finished typing the second word, the hyperlink came up. to improve the home page navigation part, you could add the Tree Preservation Orders to the apply section or make them more visible.

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council - 2018-08-30
I was able to navigate to a page about tree preservation orders easy enough, but there were no forms to request / apply for one. The nearest were some enquiry forms which required me to create and login to an account in order to complete - this is a complete usability no-no and may well be illegal.

Dumfries and Galloway Council - 2014-03-24
Surprised to find tree preservation under economic development section. No information re how to apply, just about existing orders.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council - 2014-09-04
First search result on google. A customer may not know to search under planning for TPO's.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council - 2014-09-04
there is no information about applying for a tree preservation order it would be better if it stated at the sart that these can or cannot be applied for on line and where to go to do so all info just applies to wanting to work on trees with possible tpo's

Lambeth Council - 2014-05-10
This was actually very easy, HOWEVER I have tried to find other items on Lambeth Council website and could not find it because they have another site called lambeth living for certain queries. In addition their complaint form is hidden/renamed?

Leeds City Council - 2013-12-13
Result of the Google search took me to a page which suggested a .pdf download before doing it online; sparse guidance on process. Internal search results were all .pdf documents.

Liverpool City Council - 2015-01-15
There may be a problem with the internal search, as both "Tree", "Tree Preservation" and "Preservation" did not show any results.

Liverpool City Council - 2015-01-15
There may be a problem with the internal search, as both "Tree", "Tree Preservation" and "Preservation" did not show any results.

Liverpool City Council - 2015-01-15
There may be a problem with the internal search, as both "Tree", "Tree Preservation" and "Preservation" did not show any results.

Liverpool City Council - 2016-06-17
It appears the council doesn't offer this as an online service.

Manchester City Council - 2014-02-14
Internal search gave me a screen full of .pdf files. Google found me a page about TPOs (for some reason apparently located under Sport, leisure, and culture), but it was information about what work can be done on preserved trees, not about how somebody might apply for a tree to be protected.

Northumberland County Council - 2020-04-15
Navigation difficult and ended up at a broken link Terminology used is confusing, trees & shrubs, trees & hedges Too much information to read Unable to apply online

Nottinghamshire County Council - 2014-04-01
Cannot apply for a TPO on their site

Ribble Valley Borough Council - 2014-06-30
The info for how to apply for an order doesn't seem to exist. Although there is info on the orders themselves.

West Lindsey District Council - 2014-02-20
Aargh! Not only an irritating cookie warning but a Socitm popup - demerits. Worst strapline ever - the entrepreneurial council - how many people will understand what that means? Google lists several relevant hits. But, pages take forever to load. Link to application is difficult to see on page. Then application won't open up. Disappointing. Internal search - TPOs at top. (Advanced search? You mean the search facility is so bad it needs an advanced version.) Again the application won't open. And that cookie warning is still there. Ok, page opens and now presented with a list of pdfs. Boy, this is proving to be painful. The site uses tabs, but I get the feeling these are used for the sake of it or to disguise reams of boring and unnecessary content. meanwhile, the pdf still hasn't downloaded. Interesting A to Z feature of concertina containing summary of topic, but actually since it gives information and not an action it's not really helpful. When the pdf eventually loaded it wouldn't allow me to complete and save. What promised to be a good experience from the look of the site turned out to be frustrating because it didn't function well.