Full removal, stump and all, with the ground reinstated for what comes next.

What removal includes

• Cut down to stump, arisings taken off site
• Stump grinding where machine access allows, root-ball lift where the hedge is old enough that grinding won't finish the job
• Root plate cleared out to a working depth for whatever's replacing it (fence, wall, replant, hard landscaping)
• Ground reinstated to a level finish — topsoil dressed where a lawn or planting follows, base compacted where hard landscaping follows
• Six-week s.211 notice filed with Dover District Council on your behalf if you're in one of the seven Deal or Walmer conservation areas and the hedge has any stem 75mm or over at 1.5m
• Fixed price quoted in advance

The Deal ground reality — not Thanet chalk

Worth calling out because it changes the job. Deal is not on the Thanet chalk. The Richborough Syncline dips the chalk down under the Thanet Sand, so the ground you're reinstating into is Holocene shingle at the seafront and coastal alluvium (fine silts and clays over that shingle) a street back. Sharp surface drainage on the shingle, waterlogged clay below. That's the opposite problem to Thanet peers a few miles north, and it's why stump work behaves differently: on Beach Street a ground-out stump backfills with shingle and settles fast; on Sholden a ground-out stump can hold water in the alluvial clay for months and needs coarse gravel keying in.

TPO, conservation-area and s.211 checks

Before any removal in Deal or Walmer I check the DDC planning constraints layer for Tree Preservation Orders and conservation-area boundaries. The seven CAs (Middle Street 1968, Upper Deal 2019 appraisal, South Barracks 1997, Nelson Street 2017, Upper Walmer 1977 and Kingsdown 1970/1994/2016) cover a lot of the plots I quote on. Any tree in a CA with a stem 75mm or over at 1.5m needs a six-week written notice to Dover District Council under s.211 of the TCPA 1990. That includes multi-stemmed hawthorn, holly and yew — often the plants you're actually trying to remove. Shrub hedges (privet, laurel) don't qualify, but I check every case before quoting.

The Article 4 warning

DDC carries 55 Article 4 directions across its 57 CAs. Article 4 removes permitted development rights on front-facing works. If your removal is a prelude to a new boundary wall, railing, gate or paving on the front face of the property, that follow-on job needs a planning route even if the hedge itself didn't. I flag this at quote stage so you don't hit a stop-work notice halfway through the replacement. On listed Middle Street cottages the trigger is stronger still — hedge removal itself doesn't need Listed Building Consent, but any boundary structure that follows is dual-controlled by listing plus Article 4 plus CA.

Nesting law and the March–August window

Removal in the March to August nesting season needs a proper on-the-day nest check. WCA 1981 s.1 makes damage to an active nest an offence — up to £5,000 per nest and six months. If nests are present, the job waits until September. Bat roosts are a separate issue: WCA s.9 plus the Habitats Regs 2017 reg 43 protect roosts even when empty, and old ivy-bound hedges on Walmer villas occasionally hold them. If I find evidence I stop, you get a bat surveyor in, and if needed an EPS licence application follows.

Where the material goes

Small residential loads leave the same day. Larger jobs go through Dover Recycling Centre at Honeywood Road, Whitfield CT16 3EH (KCC/FCC operated, slot booking required, vans and trailers need a KCC permit) or through my FCC Kent trade waste account for commercial-volume loads. Nothing is left on your driveway "for pickup later".

Pricing

Removals typically fall in the £450 – £2,000 range depending on length, stump size, access and reinstatement scope. Stump grinding is priced per stump. Fixed price after photos and postcode, no charge if the quote isn't accepted.