Two things make Ludlow slightly different from most towns we quote in, and both affect what you should expect. One is the conservation area, which is unusually extensive and catches more gardens than people assume. The other is access, which on the older streets is frequently the largest single factor in the price.
The conservation area is the first thing to check
Ludlow's historic centre is one of the best-known conservation areas in the county, and it covers a great deal more than the immediate market square. If your tree stands within it, Shropshire Council needs six weeks' written notice before any work starts.
That is a notice, not an application. There is nothing to approve and no decision to wait for beyond the six weeks. The council uses the period to decide whether to protect the tree with a Tree Preservation Order; if it does not, the work goes ahead and the authorisation then lasts two years, so you are not tied to a single date.
A tree that already carries a TPO is a different process — a formal consent application to Shropshire Council, normally decided within eight weeks, with a right of appeal if refused. Hearing nothing does not count as permission.
(Shropshire Council is a unitary authority and is not part of the local government reorganisation affecting the neighbouring counties, so there is no change of authority coming.)
Access on the older streets
A lot of property in and around the old town has a narrow frontage, a long enclosed garden behind, and no vehicular rear access at all. Where that is the case, the tree is not the job — the carrying is.
A chipper parked beside a tree processes material as it comes down. Where it cannot get there, every branch travels by hand, through the house or along a shared passage, to wherever a vehicle can legally stand. On a mature tree that is a great many trips.
- Is there rear or side access, or does everything come through the house?
- How wide is the narrowest point — a gate, a passage, a doorway?
- Where can a vehicle stop, and is there a time limit or a permit?
- How far from the tree to that point?
- Are there steps, and how many?
- Is there anywhere on site the chip could stay, if you wanted it?
The rest of what moves the price
| Factor | Effect |
|---|---|
| Which operation | Deadwooding and felling are not comparable jobs |
| Height and spread | Sets the crew, the climbing time and the equipment |
| What is underneath | Clear ground allows dropping; buildings mean roped sections |
| Species | Dense hardwood is slower to cut and heavier to handle |
| Condition | Dead or decayed trees are worked far more cautiously |
| Waste volume | A mature tree produces a great deal of material |
Describe the problem, not the operation
This saves more money than anything else on this page. A large share of enquiries that open with "it needs reducing" turn out to want a crown lift once we ask what is actually bothering the customer — and a lift is cheaper, lasts considerably longer and usually looks better.
What should not be the cheap bit
- Ask to see insurance, and check it covers tree work at height.
- Ask what chainsaw and climbing qualifications the crew hold.
- Ask whether they have checked the conservation area and TPO position.
- Ask how branches will come down — dropped, or roped.
- Ask whether they are a registered waste carrier.
That third point matters more here than in most towns. A contractor who has not asked whether you are in the conservation area has not done the basic homework, and it is you rather than them who carries the consequence of cutting a protected tree.
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