Sutton Coldfield has some of the biggest private gardens in the West Midlands. Four Oaks and Little Aston were laid out for large detached homes, Mere Green and Walmley filled in with 1930s and post-war semis on generous plots, and the town wraps around Sutton Park. That means bigger trees, longer hedges and more green waste per garden than most of Birmingham.
The patch also crosses council boundaries. B72 to B76 are mostly Birmingham City Council, but parts of B74 (Streetly) and most of WS9 (Aldridge, Walsall Wood) are Walsall Council, and Little Aston is Lichfield District. Which side you live on decides who you ask about a protected tree and which tip you can use.
Branch and Bramble doesn't do the work. We pass your enquiry to one local specialist who covers this patch, and they confirm a fixed price with you directly.
Tree Preservation Orders and conservation areas
Birmingham has 29 conservation areas and three of them are in Sutton Coldfield:
- Four Oaks: the Four Oaks Park estate, roughly enclosed by Lichfield Road, Four Oaks Road, Sutton Park and the railway. Around 200 houses went up here between about 1895 and 1915, many in the Arts and Crafts style, and the trees are a large part of why it was designated.
- Anchorage Road, Sutton Coldfield.
- High Street, Sutton Coldfield, which also has an Article 4 Direction.
Any tree in a conservation area with a trunk over 75mm across (measured 1.5m above the ground) is protected. Before pruning or felling it you must give Birmingham City Council six weeks' written notice, known as a section 211 notice, using the council's tree works consent form. The council uses those six weeks to decide whether to put a Tree Preservation Order on it. Our guide to trees in conservation areas explains the process.
Individual trees outside those areas may still have a TPO. Birmingham publishes TPO sites on an online TPO map, linked from its find out if a tree is protected page, and you can request a copy of an Order (allow up to 10 working days). See how to check if a tree has a TPO.
On the Walsall side, the council does not offer an interactive map. It publishes a register of TPOs, updated quarterly, and asks residents to contact its tree preservation officers to confirm whether a tree is protected. Walsall's conservation areas in this patch include Aldridge and the large Great Barr conservation area, which takes in Barr Beacon and the Great Barr Hall parkland.
The local landscape
The typical Four Oaks or Little Aston garden is long, often well over 30 metres, with mature oak, lime, beech, horse chestnut, Scots pine and cedar planted when the plots were new. Many are now 100 years old and taller than the houses. Crown reductions, deadwood removal and work over roofs and conservatories are common jobs here, and so are overgrown boundary screens of Leylandii and laurel planted in the 1970s and 1980s for privacy.
Houses backing onto Sutton Park get overhanging branches, heavy leaf fall and self-sown sycamore and birch in the borders. The park is a National Nature Reserve, and its trees are the council's to manage, not yours.
Soils vary: some streets are sandy and free-draining, others are on clay, where large trees close to a house can play a part in subsidence. If that is why a tree is coming out, share any surveyor's or insurer's report with the specialist.
Tree work in Sutton Coldfield
Most tree jobs here are about size. A lime or oak planted in 1910 can be 20 metres tall, and anything over 15 metres is priced after a free survey. Smaller removals start from £280, and a crown reduction is often the better answer for a healthy tree that has simply outgrown a Four Oaks garden.
Check protection before anyone starts. In the Four Oaks, Anchorage Road and High Street conservation areas the six-week notice applies to almost every tree of any size, and TPOs are scattered well beyond those boundaries. A good tree surgeon will check the council map with you, but the legal duty is yours as the owner.
Leylandii screens along boundaries are the other big category. Taking one out is hedge removal, and cutting it down to a sensible height is hedge reduction. The Leylandii removal guide covers the options. Stumps can be ground out afterwards; see stump grinding.
The local tree surgeon we pass your enquiry to has had their insurance and NPTC chainsaw certificates checked. See tree surgery for everything they cover, or go straight to the Sutton Coldfield tree surgery page.
Local questions
I live in Streetly or Aldridge. Which council deals with my trees?
Aldridge, Walsall Wood and most of Streetly are in Walsall, so TPO checks, notices and tip access go through Walsall Council even though some of these addresses have B74 postcodes. Little Aston is Lichfield District. The rest of B72 to B76 is Birmingham City Council. If you are unsure, your council tax bill tells you.
Are all the trees in Four Oaks protected?
Not all, but most mature trees on the Four Oaks Park estate are inside the conservation area, so you must give Birmingham City Council six weeks' notice before work on any tree with a trunk over 75mm across. Some also have individual TPOs, which need formal consent instead. Check the council's online TPO map first.
Can I cut back branches coming over from Sutton Park?
You can usually cut overhanging branches back to your boundary, but not beyond it, and the cut material belongs to the tree's owner. If the tree is covered by a TPO or sits in a conservation area, the protection still applies, so check first. Our guide to cutting neighbours' overhanging branches covers the detail.
Can I take garden waste to Norris Way in a van?
Yes, if you are a Birmingham resident with a household van: book a slot (vans can book up to seven days ahead) and bring proof of address. Commercial vehicles and business waste are not allowed, which is why a clearance specialist cannot use it for your waste.