Consideredarboriculturefor consideredplaces.

An independent arboricultural practice working with developers, architects, and landowners across the south of England and south Wales.

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About

A practice built around the trees themselves, not the paperwork.

Treepoint Consultants is an independent arboricultural practice based in London. It was established to provide considered arboricultural counsel to clients who value precision and clarity over volume: a small range of services, done properly, by a single experienced hand.

Every commission is treated as a bespoke matter. Reports are written by hand, not generated from templates, and every tree is inspected in person. Findings are produced to the standards expected by planning authorities, the Arboricultural Association, and where required, the courts.

Based in London, the practice regularly works across Greater London, Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, and the south Wales corridor including Cardiff, Newport, Monmouthshire, and Swansea. Site visits further afield are arranged by agreement.

Clients include property developers, architects, landscape architects, planning consultants, solicitors, estate managers, and private landowners.

Principles

How the work is done.

Six principles that hold across every commission, every scale, every season.

01
Evidence before opinion
Every conclusion is supported by site evidence: measurements, photographs, and instrument readings where appropriate. Opinion follows from evidence, not the other way around. Where evidence is absent or genuinely ambiguous, the report says so plainly, and the reasoning sets out what would resolve it.
02
Plain English
Reports are written to be read by the people who will rely on them: planning officers, contractors, solicitors, owners. Technical accuracy comes first; plain language carries it. Jargon is avoided where a plain word will do, and the British Standards are translated, not transcribed.
03
Fixed fees
A quote is agreed in writing before any work begins, with the scope explicitly stated. There are no surprises on the invoice. Where scope changes during an instruction (additional trees, a revised layout, a fresh round of officer comments), the variation is agreed in advance, not negotiated after the fact.
04
Tree first thinking
Where retention and development can be reconciled, the work argues for retention. Mature trees take decades to grow and cannot be replaced inside the timeframe of a single application. Layout adjustments that preserve a significant specimen almost always pay back, in both planning terms and the long life of the site.
05
The long view
Recommendations consider the tree's likely condition twenty, forty, and sixty years on. A defensible report has to survive determination, the discharge of conditions, the construction phase, and the years after handover, not just the planning officer's first read.
06
Specific to your site
No two sites are alike, and no two reports should be either. Every report is written from scratch for the trees on the ground, not assembled from templates. The reasoning is your reasoning; the precedents cited are precedents that bear on your application.

The full range of arboricultural consultancy, applied with care.

Services

BS 5837:2012 is the British Standard governing how trees are surveyed, categorised, and protected on any site where development is proposed. A BS 5837 report is the foundation document submitted with planning applications affecting trees, and it informs every subsequent stage of design: what can be built, where it can be built, and what mitigation is required. Where the report is robust, the rest of the application follows. Where it is thin, the trees become a problem that compounds at every later stage.
Typically required when
Planning application on a site containing trees
Preapplication advice from the planning authority
Due diligence before purchasing a development site
Design team needing a tree constraints plan to inform layout
What you receive
Detailed survey schedule of every tree on or affecting the site
Tree constraints plan showing Root Protection Areas and canopy spreads
Category assessments (A, B, C, U) with retention rationale
Typical turnaround
2 to 4 weeks
Detailed inventories of trees on a site, recording species, condition, age class, dimensions (height, stem diameter, crown spread), physiological and structural condition, and recommended works. Surveys may cover individual specimens, groups, woodland, or full estates. The schedule is set up to be used: by an estate manager planning works, by a buyer assessing liability, by a planner reading an application, by a contractor pricing the job.
Typically required when
Managing an estate, large garden, or institutional grounds
Ongoing tree maintenance and inspection planning
Prepurchase due diligence
Insurance requirements; storm damage assessment
What you receive
Tagged tree schedule (paper, PDF, and editable spreadsheet)
Condition report with photographs
Management recommendations with priorities and timings
Typical turnaround
1 to 3 weeks
An AIA evaluates how a specific development proposal will affect retained trees, predicting impacts on roots within the Root Protection Area, canopy clearance, light and microclimate, and the trees' long term viability after construction. The AIA also proposes mitigation: design changes, foundation specifications, protective measures, or replacement planting where loss is genuinely unavoidable. It is the document that turns a constraints plan into a planning argument.
Typically required when
Detailed planning application where trees will be retained
Refinement of layout to reduce tree loss
Response to planning officer comments or refusal
Appeal against a planning refusal involving trees
What you receive
Written AIA report aligned with BS 5837
Tree loss schedule and justifications
Mitigation proposals and replacement planting strategy
Typical turnaround
2 to 3 weeks
Where construction will take place within Root Protection Areas or otherwise close to retained trees, an AMS sets out, in technical detail, how the works will proceed without causing damage. This includes foundation type, services routing, ground protection measures, hand dig zones, and any required arboricultural supervision. The AMS is a contractor facing document; it must be unambiguous on site, not just on a planner's desk.
Typically required when
Planning condition requiring an AMS before construction
Foundations or services routed within an RPA
Hard surfacing or level changes near retained trees
Demolition adjacent to retained trees
What you receive
Written method statement, drawing referenced
Supervised works schedule with monitoring intervals
Sign off certifications at the agreed stages
Typical turnaround
2 weeks
A construction stage drawing showing the location of tree protection fencing, ground protection zones, exclusion areas, and any specified construction details, used by contractors on site and submitted to discharge planning conditions. The TPP is the document the site manager pins to the wall; it has to be unambiguous, durable in a wet folder, and consistent with the AMS and AIA that preceded it.
Typically required when
Planning condition requiring a TPP
Contractor mobilisation onto a site with retained trees
Site meeting before commencement with the planning authority
What you receive
Scaled TPP drawing in PDF and CAD
Written specification of protection measures
Contractor briefing notes where required
Typical turnaround
1 to 2 weeks
Many trees in England and Wales are protected by Tree Preservation Orders, or by virtue of standing within a designated Conservation Area. Works to protected trees require formal consent under the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012. Failure to obtain it can result in an unlimited fine and prosecution of those instructing the works. Treepoint advises on the practical implications, prepares applications and Section 211 notifications, and represents clients at appeal where refusal warrants it.
Typically required when
Planned works to a protected tree
Refusal of a TPO application
Considering a property purchase where TPOs apply
Enforcement notice or alleged breach
What you receive
TPO application or Section 211 notification
Supporting arboricultural justification
Appeal documents where required
Typical turnaround
1 to 2 weeks for application preparation
A duty of care exists in common law for landowners to ensure trees on their property do not present an unreasonable risk to people or property. Treepoint conducts systematic tree safety inspections (typically following the QTRA or VALID frameworks), diagnoses pest and disease problems, and investigates the circumstances of tree failures, including expert evidence where matters reach litigation. The inspection is the start of the duty of care, not the end; the management programme that follows is what defends the landowner.
Typically required when
Trees adjacent to roads, footpaths, railways, or buildings
Visible decay, dieback, or fungal fruiting bodies
Following high winds, or after a failure has caused damage or injury
Preparing a defence against a claim
What you receive
Inspection report with risk ratings and photographs of every tree
Recommended remedial actions and prioritisation schedule
Reinspection schedule and management programme
Typical turnaround
1 to 2 weeks for routine inspection; longer for investigations
Visual inspection has limits. Where internal decay is suspected (most often in mature urban trees in high target settings), noninvasive instruments are deployed: sonic tomography (PiCUS), resistograph drilling, and aerial inspection by climbing or pole camera where the canopy needs eyes on it. The diagnostic informs the management decision: retain, monitor, reduce, or fell. Where the answer is "retain", the report explains why.
Typically required when
Visible decay or hollow at the trunk base
Fungal fruiting bodies on or near the trunk or root plate
Cavities above ground level
Mature tree in a high target setting (alongside roads, buildings, playgrounds)
What you receive
Tomography images with interpretation
Resistograph traces and analysis
Climbing or pole camera inspection record
Management recommendation with reasoning
Typical turnaround
2 to 3 weeks (including instrument hire)
Ancient and veteran trees are afforded particular protection under the National Planning Policy Framework, recognised as irreplaceable habitats. Their assessment requires specific competence: identifying the features that confer ancient or veteran status, valuing them in planning terms, and proposing management compatible with their conservation. Treepoint assesses, records, and reports on individual specimens and groups, working from the Ancient Tree Inventory and the Forestry Commission's veteran tree guidance.
Typically required when
Site contains potential ancient or veteran trees
Planning authority requires veteran tree assessment
Estate review of irreplaceable habitat or designed landscape
Disagreement with the planning authority over a tree's status
What you receive
Assessment report referencing the Ancient Tree Inventory and NPPF
Veteran or ancient categorisation with photographic record
Conservation management recommendations
Typical turnaround
2 to 3 weeks

Approach

Four steps. No surprises.

Every project, every scale. The detail expands; the rhythm does not.

01
The brief
An initial call or email at no cost, normally answered the same day. Scope is clarified in writing: which trees, what protections apply, what planning context, what deadline. A fixed fee is quoted before any work begins, with no surprises on invoicing. NDAs and confidentiality undertakings are accepted where required, and it is normal practice to agree confidentiality at the brief stage rather than later.
Every tree relevant to the commission is inspected in person, measured, and photographed. Where access is restricted or trees are tall, equipment is brought to suit: pole cameras for crown inspection, sonic tomographs and resistograph drills where internal decay is suspected, climbing inspection where the canopy demands it. Site visits are scheduled within one to two weeks of instruction in most cases, sooner where the matter is genuinely urgent.
02
Site visit
03
The report
Findings, recommendations, and supporting plans are prepared in accordance with the relevant British Standards and submitted ready for the planning portal. Reports are written from scratch, not assembled from templates. The arboricultural reasoning is specific to your site, your trees, and your application. Drafts are issued for comment before the final version where the timetable allows, and the report is delivered when it was promised.
Availability continues through determination of the application, discharge of conditions, and into the construction phase. Where an AMS specifies arboricultural supervision of particular operations, site visits are arranged on the relevant dates and the works signed off. Telephone advice on minor queries is offered without further charge to existing clients. It is in everyone's interest that the trees, the application, and the contractor remain aligned.
04
Ongoing counsel

The questions clients usually ask first.

If the answer to yours isn't below, please ask. There is no charge for an initial enquiry.

Questions

If your site contains any trees that could be affected by the development, or any trees within falling distance of the proposed works, then almost certainly yes. Many planning authorities will reject an application as invalid without one. Where there's doubt, a preapplication enquiry to the planning officer will confirm.
The Root Protection Area is a calculated zone around a tree (typically twelve times the stem diameter, expressed as a circle or polygon) within which construction activity is restricted to protect the tree's roots. Roots within this area are essential to the tree's stability and water uptake. Damaging them (through trenching, compaction, or chemical contamination) can kill the tree, often years after the works.
Under BS 5837, trees are classified by quality and longevity. Category A trees are of high quality with a remaining life expectancy of forty years or more; Category B is moderate quality with twenty years or more; Category C is low quality with ten years or more; Category U trees are unsuitable for retention. The category influences how strongly the planning system protects the tree from removal.
Only with formal consent from the planning authority. Application is made on the standard form with supporting arboricultural justification. Exceptions exist for trees that are dead or that pose an immediate risk, but the safest course is to seek written agreement before any works, and to keep photographic evidence of the condition that justified them.
In England and Wales, unauthorised works to a TPO'd tree or a Conservation Area tree can attract a fine of up to £20,000 in the Magistrates' Court, or an unlimited fine if tried on indictment in the Crown Court. Liability extends to those instructing the works as well as the contractor who carries them out.
Treepoint is based in London and routinely covers Greater London, the Home Counties, the south of England, and south Wales. Site visits beyond this radius are arranged by agreement. Get in touch. There is a good chance the answer is yes.
Fees depend on the number of trees, the site complexity, and the report type. A straightforward survey for a small site might start in the low hundreds; a complex AIA and AMS package for a multiphase development will be considerably more. A fixed fee is quoted in writing before any work begins.
For straightforward instructions, two to four weeks from initial brief to final report is typical. Urgent matters can sometimes be expedited; please ask. The site visit is usually scheduled within a week of instruction.
Yes. Where retention is the right answer, the report says so, and the reasoning is set out clearly. Layout adjustments that preserve significant trees almost always pay back in planning terms. The work is to find that argument, not to wave it through.

Contact

Start a quiet conversation.

Every brief begins in writing. Tell us what you have, what you need, and when. You will hear back within one working day.

Consideredarboriculturefor consideredplaces.

A practice built around the trees themselves, not the paperwork.

How the work is done.

Evidence before opinion

Plain English

Fixed fees

Tree first thinking

The long view

Specific to your site

Four steps. No surprises.

The brief

Site visit

The report

Ongoing counsel

The questions clients usually ask first.

Start a quiet conversation.