Before land clearing starts in Melbourne
Lodge a Before You Dig Australia enquiry and locate private services yourself, because plans don't show irrigation or power to sheds. Keep machinery and people well away from any power line, and ask the network about lines crossing the block. Clearing near a line is the network's call, not the contractor's.
Land clearing in Melbourne: what's local
Native vegetation, including dead
Clause 52.17 needs a planning permit to remove, destroy or lop native vegetation, including dead native vegetation, unless an exemption in the clause applies. Its allowance for dead vegetation doesn't cover a standing dead tree 40 centimetres or more across at 1.3 metres.
Bigger blocks on the fringe
Yarra Ranges says a proposal affecting native vegetation on a property over 4000 square metres will most likely need a planning permit. Casey says the same kind of permit may be needed on properties over 4,000 sqm where the vegetation is native.
Overlays that reach the understorey
In an Environmental Significance Overlay, a permit is needed for any vegetation, dead included, unless the schedule says otherwise. Maroondah's Vegetation Protection Overlay covers all native vegetation, including dead or fallen trees, shrubs and ground flora.
Bushfire clearing has limits
Victoria's 10/30 rule and the 50 m rule in the Bushfire Management Overlay allow some clearing around older houses in mapped areas, and the fence line rule allows up to 4 metres combined. Not all of these apply in the Yarra Ranges, and they don't override covenants.
Courts take it seriously
On 7 February 2025, Frankston reported that a Langwarrin owner was fined $15,000 in Frankston Magistrates Court for offences including removing protected vegetation.
Land clearing in Melbourne: good to know
Most fringe clearing jobs are a mix: weeds and woody regrowth, a few dead trees, fallen timber and a fence line to open up. A forestry mulcher or chipper turns the cut material into mulch on site, which can be spread back over the ground or on garden beds. Whole-tree removals and stump grubbing come on top.
The planning question decides the scope. A contractor can quote once you know what's allowed, and a good quote marks what stays as well as what goes. The national land clearing page and our bushfire clearing guide explain the options.
Land clearing in Melbourne: what you can do yourself
You can
- Pull a VicPlan report and read the overlays and their schedules.
- Ask the council whether a permit or a native vegetation report is needed.
- Mark trees, hollows and boundaries you want kept, and photograph the site before work.
Leave to an arborist
- Felling, mulching and anything with machinery.
- Dead trees that are large or near buildings and lines.
- A tree or native vegetation assessment if the council asks for one.
Hiring an arborist for land clearing in Melbourne
Get the permit answer in writing before booking machines, especially if there's native bush, a creek line or anything in an overlay. Then have the contractor walk the site with you and flag what stays. Clearing the wrong strip is hard to undo and slow to grow back.