Trees on Private Property
St Lukes Hospital Roslyn St Elizabeth Bay, Port Jackson Fig
The City recognizes the benefits that all trees provide to our City, including trees located in private property. The Council of the City of Sydney resolved on 1 June 2004 to make a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) that applies to all land within the Local Government Area.
In summary, a TPO provides a regulatory framework for the management of trees to secure and enhance the City’s urban forest and the benefits provided by our urban trees. Serious penalties apply for a person/s found guilty of breaching the Order, with a maximum fine in the Land and Environment Court of $1,100,000.
You can download the Tree Preservation Order as a PDF document.
How to Lodge an Application for Tree Pruning or Removal
Applications for tree pruning or removal are usually assessed by Council within 14 day.
If you would like to prune or remove a tree on your property, you will need to fill out the Application Form and send it to Council with the required Application Fee of $48.00.
Please note that the property owner, or their authorised agent (such as the Secretary of a Body Corporate, or a Managing Agent) must sign the application.
The City can NOT give consent to remove a tree without the property owners permission.
Should a neighbouring tree overhang your property, the City can give approval to the applicant to undertake pruning on the tree as specified in the Tree Preservation Order determination.
Permission from the property owner is NOT required to prune a tree that overhangs an adjoining property. However the City will NOT approve the pruning of a tree back to the property boundary line, as this pruning damages a tree and is not in accordance with the Australian Standard for the Pruning of Amenity Trees (AS4373).
You can download the Application Form to Prune / Remove Trees as a PDF document. If you would like to pay the application fee by credit card, please download the Credit Card Payment Form below.
Download
- Credit Card Payment Form | PDF 39Kb
Tree Inspections
The City’s qualified Tree Management staff will inspect the site and undertake a Visual Tree Assessment (VTA) on each tree.
It is important to note that this assessment is based on the trees current health, condition and structure. This inspection does not include an aerial inspection, resistance testing of the tree, pathology assessment, soil removal etc.
If the tree requires extensive investigation that includes one of the items listed above, the applicant / property owner will need to engage a consultant arborist who can undertake the required assessment. Guidelines for these reports can be found here.
Following the site inspection, a written determination will then be sent to the applicant and/or property owner. This determination must be displayed at the front of the property two days prior, during and two days following the works being undertaken.
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