Storm damage and fallen trees in Ferntree Gully
If a tree or branch has come down on the house or a car, or is blocking your way out, call the SES, and 000 if anyone is hurt or in danger. Stay out from under split or hanging limbs, and treat any line that's down or sagging as live. The June 2021 storm hit the Dandenong Ranges hard, and AusNet warned at least 3,000 households there could be without power for weeks.
Tree removal in Ferntree Gully: what's local
The national park next door
The 1000 Steps walk starts at the Ferntree Gully Picnic Area in Dandenong Ranges National Park, where steep volcanic hills carry stands of Mountain Ash, the world's tallest flowering tree. Parks Victoria closes the whole park, 1000 Steps included, on days rated Extreme or above.
Trees that run across the blocks
Knox's SLO2 covers the foothills backdrop and ridgeline, where big native trees often run continuously across yards and roads and houses are tucked into hilly ground. Removing, destroying or lopping a tree 5 metres or taller, or with a trunk girth over 0.5 metre at 0.5 metres up, needs a permit there.
Bushfire at the edge
Knox says its bushfire risk is greatest where houses meet the Dandenong Ranges foothills. Before summer, council prunes its trees near powerlines every year in the high bushfire risk areas of Ferntree Gully and Upper Gully.
A suburb that stays low key
Knox's planning scheme notes Ferntree Gully and Upper Ferntree Gully each have a train station but are constrained by their environmental values and risks, so growth here is kept modest.
Bushfire clearing in Ferntree Gully
Victoria's 10/30 rule (clause 52.12) lets you clear vegetation, including trees, within 10 metres of a home, and vegetation other than trees within 30 metres. It only works in a designated bushfire prone area, and only for a home built or approved before 10 September 2009.
It overrides planning scheme permits, such as Knox's foothills overlays, but not covenants or legal agreements. It doesn't reach onto a neighbour's land without their written permission. Our bushfire clearing guide goes through it step by step, and Knox's permit page covers the overlays.
Questions to ask an arborist in Ferntree Gully
- How will a tall tree come down on a slope this steep, and what's below it?
- Will you need a crane or an elevating work platform, and can it get up the driveway?
- Is there a Knox permit for this, or does the bushfire rule cover it, and who's checked?
- Can I see your public liability insurance before you start?
Hiring an arborist in Ferntree Gully
Get on top of it in spring, not in the first hot week of summer. Walk the block, note any tree within 10 metres of the house, check if the block is in a bushfire prone area, and have an arborist look at the big trees while there's time to sort a permit. On a slope, the quote should spell out exactly how each tree comes down.