Can I remove a gum near my house under 10/50?

Only if your address is in the entitlement area on the day you clear, and part of the trunk is within 10 metres of the home's external wall. Clearing can't conflict with consent conditions, covenants or protected communities, so read the 10/50 guide first.

The gum is dead. Can it just come down?

Not without checking. Since NSW's 2026 changes, dead and dying protected trees need a council permit or Native Vegetation Panel approval, and an imminent-risk removal needs council's written agreement first.

Who looks after the trees on the verge?

Verge trees are council's. Work on a tree on public land needs approval first, and branches near wires are Ausgrid's to clear.

Tree removal Frenchs Forest: bushland edge and 10/50 rules

Bushfire clearing in Frenchs Forest

Much of it, yes. The NSW RFS says bush fire prone land covers most of the 52 suburbs in the Northern Beaches council area, and the fire season here generally runs from October to March, with hot north-westerly winds and low humidity.

So the questions worth asking in Frenchs Forest are about gums near the house, deadwood (dead branches still on the tree) over the roof, and gutters full of bark and leaves. Council's hazards map will show whether your property is mapped as bush fire prone.

Tree removal in Frenchs Forest: what's local

Duffys Forest vegetation

This open forest grows on ridgetops and plateaus with shale and lateritic soils, in bushland reserves and on road verges in Frenchs Forest. The NSW Scientific Committee listed it as endangered in 2002, naming clearing and fragmentation among its threats.

The trees in it

Council names red bloodwood, black ash, Sydney red gum and brown stringybark. At Lionel Watts Bushland Reserve, by the showground, the local form has a taller canopy with blackbutt in it.

Garden trees nearby

Council's planting guide for the Frenchs Forest Ward adds scribbly gum, Sydney peppermint, old man banksia and water gum. If the big tree in your backyard is one of these natives, that weighs on how a permit is assessed.

Wires along the main roads

Ausgrid's trimming program listed Frenchs Forest, Forestville, Belrose and Davidson in October and November 2026. A branch on a street line is Ausgrid's to deal with: call them.

Tree removal permits in Frenchs Forest

		10/50 clearing
Where it works	Only on land mapped in the 10/50 entitlement area. Check the RFS tool on the day you clear.	Anywhere council's rules protect the tree.
What it covers	Trees within 10 metres of a home's external wall, and shrubs (not trees) out to 50 metres.	Pruning or removal, assessed tree by tree.
What blocks it	Development consent conditions, covenants, critical habitat, critically endangered communities and heritage listings.	Council won't approve removing healthy, stable trees, or lopping and topping.
Who decides	You follow the Code yourself and keep a copy of the RFS result.	Northern Beaches Council, sometimes with an arborist report.

Hiring an arborist in Frenchs Forest

Before fire season, we'd get an arborist to look at the big gums nearest the house for deadwood and weak limbs, because removing deadwood is often the job that matters. If clearing is the plan, we'd run the RFS 10/50 check on the day and keep the printout. If the address isn't mapped, we'd talk to council before any tree comes down.

Tree removal and pruning in Frenchs Forest