Tree pruning on the Sunshine Coast: what's local
Council branches over your fence
Council says residents may prune council tree branches back to the boundary only, where they overhang more than 0.5m and sit within 2.5m of the ground. You take away the green waste. Anything bigger is for a council arborist to assess.
Council won't trim for convenience
Council says it won't prune its trees to reduce limbs or overhang over private property unless they're deemed hazardous. Its arborist service covers council trees in parks and on nature strips that encroach on your place, and investigations can take up to 4 weeks.
1.3m from a powerline is Energex's
Council says pruning within 1.3m of a powerline or utility line must be done by Energex. Main roads such as the Bruce Highway and Sunshine Motorway go to Transport and Main Roads.
Your own protected trees
Council says a permit may be needed for pruning that's likely to kill a protected tree, and the protection can come from the planning scheme, an overlay, a covenant or old approval conditions. Development.i shows what's mapped. In Noosa, Noosa Shire Council's own scheme applies instead. See the Sunshine Coast permit page.
How tree pruning works on the Sunshine Coast
Ask for pruning to AS 4373-2007, the Australian standard. That means taking out deadwood (dead branches still on the tree), thinning a crowded crown, lifting low limbs off the roof or driveway, and shortening a limb back to a healthy side branch. Lopping or topping, which leaves stubs, is listed in the standard as unacceptable.
Heavy cuts leave big wounds and push out a flush of bushy regrowth, so a lighter prune done more often is usually kinder to the tree and the roof under it. Our crown thinning and lifting page explains the common cuts.
Neighbours' trees on the Sunshine Coast
Council's rule for its own trees lines up with Queensland's neighbour tree law. Under that law, a neighbour can serve a notice for branches at least 50 cm over the boundary and 2.5 m or less above the ground, giving the tree-keeper at least 30 days. The notice can't be used if a vegetation protection order covers the tree. See our neighbour trees guide.
Tree pruning on the Sunshine Coast: what you can do yourself
You can
- Cut back small overhanging council branches to the boundary, within council's limits, from the ground
- Prune small branches on your own trees with secateurs, loppers or a pruning saw, both feet on the ground
- Take the green waste away afterwards
- Photograph anything that looks split or hollow
Leave to an arborist
- Anything above head height or over the roof
- Any branch within 1.3m of a powerline, which goes to Energex
- Bigger overhangs from council trees, which council assesses
- Heavy pruning on a protected tree
Hiring an arborist for tree pruning on the Sunshine Coast
If it's council's tree, we'd photograph the overhang, measure how far it reaches over the boundary and how high it is, and lodge the arborist request with those numbers. If it's yours and it's big, we'd check Development.i before any pruning that takes off more than a light tidy.