Building near trees in Innaloo
Sometimes the planning rules bend to let it. Clause 5.5.1 of Stirling's Local Planning Scheme No. 3 lets Council approve a development that misses a standard, on the sole ground that it keeps an established tree. It doesn't apply where the R-Codes govern, so ask the City which rules your design sits under.
Stirling has also kept a Tree Project Officer in its 2026-27 budget, a role there to help retain and plant trees through development applications. That's worth a call to the City before the plans are final.
Storm damage and fallen trees in Innaloo
Read the title
Look for a Section 70A notification. A tree on Stirling's voluntary Significant Tree Register is protected from damage and removal through it.
Get the trees assessed early
An arborist can tell you which trees are healthy enough to design around and how much root space they need. The current standard, AS 4970:2025, calls that the Notional Root Zone. Our arborist reports page explains what a report covers.
Plan the crossover around the street tree
Stirling sets driveway setbacks from street trees by trunk diameter, and the street tree is the City's, so plan on it staying.
Fence it before the machines arrive
The street tree needs a barrier or tree protection zone for the whole build.
Find the services before stumps are ground
Lodge a Before You Dig Australia enquiry, and remember its plans may not show private pipes and cables inside your boundary.
Arborists in Innaloo: what's local
A drained swamp
In 1898, land around Njookenbooroo Swamp was cut up for market gardens and the swamp was drained into Herdsman Lake. The district kept the old name until Innaloo was adopted in 1927.
Post-war houses
Most homes are single, timber-framed post-war houses, and duplexes and brick-and-tile units are replacing them a few at a time.
Parks
Innaloo has 18ha of public open space over 13 local parks and four larger reserves, Birralee Park and Yuluma Park among them.
The regional centre
Westfield Innaloo, built in 1967 as one of Perth's first big suburban shopping centres, is part of the Stirling Regional Centre on Scarborough Beach Road.
Arborists in Innaloo: good to know
When the City maps its urban forest from the air, it counts significant canopy: tree cover taller than three metres and larger than 20m². Stirling says it's still losing large amounts of it each year, often to development on private land, which is why a big, healthy tree on an infill block is worth a real try.
Trees and power lines in Innaloo
Keep crews and machinery clear of any tree touching overhead lines, and leave pruning near lines to trained people. If a line comes down, stay 8 metres back, call Western Power and, if anyone's hurt, 000.
Hiring an arborist in Innaloo
We'd have an arborist walk the block with the designer before the first sketch, not after. A healthy tree in the right spot can sometimes earn a planning variation under Clause 5.5.1; one that's declining is better dealt with early, once the City has said what approval it needs. Either way, the street tree gets fenced on day one.