Do Mornington, Rosebud and Mount Eliza have different tree rules?

They're all in Mornington Peninsula Shire, so the same planning scheme applies, but the overlays vary from area to area. That's why the Shire's myLot tool and Planning Services are the place to check an address. There's more on Rosebud and Mount Eliza.

Who clears trees near power lines on the peninsula?

United Energy runs the network here. It clears vegetation from its lines to the no go zone, and says any further cutting or removal is the landowner's responsibility. Only trained, authorised workers may work inside that zone. The line from the pole to your house is yours to keep clear.

Tree removal Mornington Peninsula: rules and arborists

Tree removal on the Mornington Peninsula

Tree removal, pruning and stump grinding on the Mornington Peninsula, matched to a local arborist.

On the Mornington Peninsula, the Shire's planning scheme decides most tree jobs, and in its township vegetation areas removing, destroying or lopping any vegetation needs a permit, with only a few listed exceptions.

Tree removal on the Mornington Peninsula: what's local

One shire, many landscapes

Mornington Peninsula Shire covers 723 square kilometres between Port Phillip Bay and Western Port, with 192 kilometres of coastline, about 10 per cent of Victoria's. Beach towns, rural residential land and hillside bush all answer to the one council.

Township vegetation overlay

The Shire's VPO1 covers places where vegetation, not buildings, is the main feature: the Mt Eliza escarpment, parts of Mornington and Mt Martha, Somerville, Hastings, Crib Point, the Westernport villages and the hills, cliff tops and dunes of the southern Peninsula.

Holiday homes

The peninsula is one of Melbourne's major holiday destinations, and Mornington has had imposing holiday homes since the 1860s. If you're only there some weekends, a tree can decline unnoticed between visits.

Fire season inspections

Shire Fire Prevention Officers inspect private land before and during the CFA's Declared Fire Danger Period, looking for long dry grass, fallen and dead vegetation, weeds and growth close to neighbouring assets. Ignoring the notice that follows carries an infringement.

How tree removal works on the Mornington Peninsula

Start with the Shire's myLot tool, which helps you find out whether a planning permit is needed to remove trees and vegetation, or ring Planning Services. VicPlan shows the zones and overlays for any address as well.

In a VPO1 area, an application needs a vegetation management plan: what's on the site, what's coming out and why, and what will be planted. On land of 0.4 hectares or more, the state's native vegetation clause (52.17) can apply on top, and it can cover dead native trees.

The Victorian permit page explains the state layers. Frankston, just north of Mount Eliza, is a separate council with its own tree rules.

Bushfire clearing on the Mornington Peninsula

Victoria's bushfire clearing rules let owners clear around an existing home, but the Shire points out they only work on land inside a designated bushfire prone area, and they changed on 5 August 2020. They also have conditions on when the house was built and never reach onto a neighbour's land without written permission. Check VicPlan and the bushfire clearing guide before you clear, and leave any big tree near the house to an arborist.

Hiring an arborist on the Mornington Peninsula

We'd book an arborist's visit in spring, ahead of the Fire Danger Period and the summer crowds, and ask them to run the address through myLot while they're on site. Dead branches over the roof and limbs leaning toward the neighbour come first. For anything big near the house, get the arborist's opinion in writing before you lodge a permit.