Tree removal permits in Joondalup
The City of Joondalup is plain about private trees. There's no specific height limit for a tree on private property, and it's the owner's job to inspect their trees regularly and keep them safe. A big backyard gum is yours to manage, and keeping it safe is on you.
Street trees are a different matter. Only the City or its contractors may prune them, and maintenance or removal requests go in online. The City says a removal request doesn't guarantee the tree comes out, so don't plan a new driveway around it disappearing.
We couldn't find a Joondalup planning policy that protects big trees on private land, the way some inner Perth councils now do. That doesn't settle the question. In WA, clearing native vegetation without a permit or an exemption is an offence, so ask the City in writing before a large native tree comes down, and read our WA permits page.
Tree removal in Joondalup: what's local
Tuart and banksia country
The City's bushland includes tuart woodlands and banksia woodlands, both threatened ecological communities, along with mature eucalypts. Homes backing onto Yellagonga Regional Park or the bush corridors live right beside them. More on gum trees.
A register for public trees
Joondalup's Significant Tree Register covers trees on land the City owns or manages. One entry is a row of 50 lemon-scented gums, 14 to 23 metres tall, on the Davallia Road median in Duncraig.
Lake, wetlands and coast
The suburb is named after Lake Joondalup, and the City looks after 17 km of coastline, the Yellagonga wetlands and more than 300 other parks and reserves. Introduced plant diseases are a real threat in that bush, which is why the tracks have boot cleaning stations.
Neighbours' trees in Joondalup
The City of Joondalup says you can cut an overhanging branch or root back to your boundary, but nothing on the neighbour's side without their agreement. Legal Aid WA adds one catch: where a tree preservation order applies, that right can be limited, so check first.
Leaves are the other common complaint. The City says no law makes you responsible for leaves that land next door, and suggests a conversation before anything else. For more than a few small branches you can reach from the ground, have an arborist make the cuts at the boundary. Our neighbours' trees guide covers the WA steps.
Trees and power lines in Joondalup
Assume the line is live and keep at least 8 metres away, as Western Power advises. Report it to Western Power, or call 000 first if someone is hurt or there's a fire. If the house is badly damaged and you can't make it safe yourself, the SES takes calls.
Hiring an arborist in Joondalup
We'd settle whose tree it is before anything else. If it's a street tree, lodge the request with the City and leave the cutting to them. If it's yours and it's a big native, ask the City in writing whether anything protects it, then get an arborist to look at it in person. Ask them where the wood and green waste will go, because Perth's shot-hole borer quarantine controls how it can be moved.