Tree removal in Lichfield & Tamworth

Most tree removals in Tamworth are on the estates built in the 1960s and 1970s, where birch, cherry, whitebeam and conifer went in at the same time as the houses and have now outgrown modest gardens. In Lichfield the jobs are more mixed: a sycamore or ash in a walled garden near the city centre, conifers along the fences in Boley Park and Darwin Park, and bigger hedgerow oak and ash on the village plots in Whittington, Shenstone and Hopwas.

The two councils handle tree applications very differently. Lichfield District runs everything through its own online tree portal. Tamworth Borough uses the Planning Portal and publishes its Tree Preservation Orders as a written list.

Branch and Bramble doesn't do the work. We pass your enquiry to one local tree surgeon who covers WS13, WS14, B77, B78 and B79, and they confirm a fixed price with you directly.

What tree removal costs in Lichfield & Tamworth

Prices are by height and include cutting up and taking away all the wood and brash.

These are our West Midlands ranges. On the Tamworth estates most removals are small or medium trees priced from photos: a 1970s birch in Stonydelph or a conifer in Wilnecote. The bigger village trees around Whittington, Hopwas and Drayton Bassett more often need a free survey. The tree removal cost guide has worked examples.

What pushes the price up here

• City-centre access. Older Lichfield houses near the centre can have walled rear gardens with no side access. If everything goes through the house, or the tree is more than 20 metres from the van, expect around 15% on top.
• Trees by the road. Staffordshire County Council is the highway authority for both towns. It expects work on the highway to be done to Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual, by a contractor with £5 million public liability cover. Any tree leaning over a road or pavement is priced after a visit.
• Trees over buildings. A tree touching or overhanging a roof comes down in small roped sections and is surveyed first.
• More than one tree. Two or three trees cost about 1.8 times one, and four or more about 2.5 times. A row of estate conifers is cheaper done in one go.
• Keeping the logs. Leaving the timber stacked for you takes about £75 off.

Lichfield District: the tree portal

Lichfield District covers WS13, WS14 and the Lichfield side of B78, including Fazeley, Hopwas and Drayton Bassett. It uses its ezyPortal for everything: checking a tree, applying to work on a TPO tree, and giving six weeks' notice for a conservation area tree. Notice is free.

Once the council has your application, an arboricultural officer assesses it and you get an acknowledgement letter. Simple jobs often get no site visit. The officer then consults the local ward councillors, which normally takes two weeks. Councillors can call an application in to be decided by the planning committee.

The council's checklist asks for a sketch plan with each tree numbered, a clear specification, and your reasons. If you're claiming the tree is unsafe, diseased or damaging property, you need a report from an expert to back it up. Don't start until you have a decision notice, or, for a conservation area tree, until six weeks have passed.

Tamworth Borough: the TPO list

Tamworth Borough covers B77 and most of B79. It applies through the Planning Portal and expects to decide in six to eight weeks.

Its TPO list is worth reading road by road. Several Orders are named after whole districts and date from when the estates were built: Stonydelph West and Stonydelph South in 1976, the Amington Action Area including the golf course in 1972, and Bolehall and Kettlebrook in 1969. A tree in one of those areas may be protected even though nobody on the road remembers why.

Tamworth adds two warnings. If a protected tree is damaged or destroyed without consent, the owner, the contractor, or both can be prosecuted. And on newer houses, planning conditions often protect existing trees and hedges, so you usually need the council's written approval before work.

Dangerous trees and the waste

Dangerous protected trees. In Lichfield District, if a protected tree is an immediate danger, you can apply for an "exception", a fast-track approval to fell it. If the work is too urgent even for that, take detailed photos or video first and keep them, because you may need to prove the tree was dead or dangerous. You'll also have to plant a replacement. The council doesn't do pre-application site visits.

The wood. The joint Lichfield and Tamworth brown bin takes prunings, not large branches. Staffordshire's recycling centres take trade waste only from Staffordshire businesses with a waste carrier licence. Traders' garden waste goes through a paid scheme, and sites can turn trade waste away when they are busy. So your tree surgeon pays to dispose of the timber, and that cost is in the price.

What the job involves

1. Checks. The specialist confirms which council covers you, searches the portal or list, and looks for nesting birds and bats.
2. Dismantling. A roped climber takes off the side branches, then lowers the main stem in sections, so nothing lands on the house, fence or shed.
3. The waste. Branches are chipped and the timber logged, then taken away or stacked for you.
4. The stump. If you ask, it is ground out at the same visit, which costs less than booking stump grinding later.

A healthy tree that is simply too big may not need to come out. A crown reduction is often easier to agree.