Trees on Private Land and Street Verges Policy Review

Background

The City’s Trees on Private Land and Street Verges Policy seeks to increase tree canopy across the City by requiring new trees to be planted on private land and street verges. New provisions are proposed to retain existing trees on private land.

In late 2024, the City engaged with the community when a draft amended Trees on Private Land and Street Verges Policy was advertised for community comment. The intent of the advertised policy was to provide greater protection to existing regulated trees on street verges and private land, and support existing tree canopy within developments and to reflect the WALGA Model Local Planning Policy for Tree Retention.

Proposed amendments included:

• Three new objectives to a) reinforce the need for the retention of existing mature trees, b) provide sufficient tree growth zones, and c) mitigate the practice of clearing mature trees.
• Three new definitions including 'Regulated Tree'. A 'Regulated Tree' is a living tree that is 8 metres or more in height, has a canopy of 6 metres in diameter, a trunk circumference of at least 1.5 metres, and is not a weed.
• New requirements that discourage the removal of Regulated Trees including the need to seek Development Approval prior to removal of a Regulated Tree, and the circumstances in which the City may grant approval for the removal of a Regulated Tree.
• Administrative updates to properly reference the Residential Design Codes.

Further information including a full summary of amendments are included in the report presented to Council at its Ordinary Council Meeting on 22 October 2024.

Further modifications to the draft Trees on Private Property and Street Verges Policy

The advertising of the draft policy and community engagement undertaken in November 2024 resulted in significant community feedback. A copy of the engagement report can be downloaded here.

The draft policy has been further amended to recognise community comments, including changing the application of the policy to new developments and subdivision only.

Key changes to the draft policy are:

• Title - changed to Tree Retention Policy. Reference to street verges removed to reflect other policy requirements and Town Planning Scheme (TPS) provisions that relate to street verge trees.
• Purpose - amended to reflect existing TPS provisions relating to provision and retention, and to provide statutory weight to the policy.
• Scope - amended to apply only to new grouped dwellings, multiple dwellings and non-residential developments, and to allow existing landowners and new single house owners to maintain and remove trees.
• Scope - amended to not retrospectively apply tree retention requirements on existing developments.
• Exemptions introduced - to clarify when a Development Approval is not required such as maintenance pruning.
• Inclusion of specific criteria - on when tree removal will or will not be considered as part of new developments.
• Inclusion of policy provisions - to allow for tree removal where it substantially impacts the development of a site and is subject to a tree replacement ratio of 2:1.
• Incentives for tree retention - amended to waive fees for written planning advice relating to a regulated tree, tree replacement incentives and development incentives such as increased site cover where a tree is retained.

What's next

A report, including the amended draft policy, was prepared and presented to Council at the 27 May 2025 OCM. Click here to read the report. Council adopted the amended policy for public advertising before final consideration.

The City will promote the opportunity to provide feedback when the comment period opens.