Councils · across South East Queensland
Do I need a permit to remove a tree?
Often, and it depends entirely on which council you are in. The check is quick, it runs against your address, and it is worth doing before you book a contractor rather than after.
0415 105 592Call 0415 105 592or send the details across
Send the property address
A property address is often enough to establish whether the vegetation is protected.
What decides it
Protection has little to do with the tree
The single most common misunderstanding is that protection follows from a tree being large, old or impressive. It does not. It follows from which council the tree stands in, and which instrument that council applies to that particular piece of land.
A modest tree on a verge can be protected while a considerably larger one in a back yard down the road is not. The same species, the same size, two streets apart, two different answers — because the boundary between them is a council boundary.
That is why the first step is never an opinion about the tree. It is a check against the address.
- Which council the property is inSeven across the service area, each with its own instrument and its own name for the approval.
- Whether an instrument applies to the landA local law, a planning scheme overlay, an order, or an area-based protection.
- Whether the tree is council vegetationStreet and park trees follow a different pathway from vegetation on private land.
- What is actually proposedRemoval, pruning and works nearby are not the same question and may not trigger the same approval.
- Whether a development is involvedClearing is frequently assessed through the development pathway rather than as a standalone permit.
How to find out
The check, in order
Most of this happens before anyone visits the property, and a fair number of enquiries end at step two.
- 01
Send the address and what you are proposing
Those two things are usually enough to start. If you have received anything in writing from a council, a certifier or a neighbour, send that wording as well, exactly as you received it.
- 02
The desktop check
Whether an instrument applies to the land, whether the vegetation is protected under it, and whether what you are proposing triggers an application at all. Frequently this does not require anyone to attend the property.
- 03
If approval is required
What the council asks an arborist to provide, prepared from measurements taken on site and named to that council's own terminology rather than a substituted equivalent.
- 04
Lodgement and follow-up
Where the application type allows it, Adam can submit on your behalf and handle council queries. Where the approval requires the completed work to be certified, that closes the condition out.
The other six
Different council, different rulebook
Each protects vegetation under its own instrument and names the approval differently. A report prepared for one does not automatically satisfy another.
- Brisbane City CouncilNatural Assets Local Law, NALL permit
- City of Moreton BayHabitat trees and significant trees
- Logan City CouncilOperational works for vegetation clearing
- Redland City CouncilLocal Law No. 6, Tree Protection Areas
- Ipswich City CouncilVegetation Protection Orders
- Sunshine Coast CouncilDevelopment permit to clear
- City of Gold CoastAssessable vegetation
Common questions
Before you book anyone
That is a matter for the council concerned, and the penalties are theirs to apply rather than something this site will speculate about. The practical point is that protection is not obvious from looking at a tree, so a check before works are booked is the cheap version of finding out.
Possibly. Some councils treat dead and dangerous vegetation differently, and some do not — and a tree that appears dead is not always dead. It is worth establishing rather than assuming, particularly since a dead tree may still carry habitat value.
They may well be right, and it is worth confirming independently, because the consequence of being wrong falls on the property owner rather than the contractor. The check is quick.
Sometimes. Pruning, removal and works near a tree are separate questions and may trigger different requirements, or none. What is proposed matters as much as the tree.
Usually a short conversation once the address and the proposal are known. If a report is not required, you will be told that rather than sold one.
Contact
Send Adam the address and he will take it from there
For many protected vegetation questions, the property address is enough to start checking. Call, or send the details below.