Tree removal in St Marys: what's local
A Blacktown corner up north
Most of the suburb is Penrith's, but a small northern part sits in Blacktown City, which counts a tree from over 3 metres tall or a trunk over 200mm at 1.0 metre. If you're near the northern edge, check the council on your rates notice first.
Hemmed in by creeks
South Creek forms the western boundary and Ropes Creek runs to the east. Penrith has adopted floodplain plans for Byrnes Creek (23 March 2020), South Creek (27 April 2020) and Little Creek, which covers St Marys and North St Marys (21 February 2022).
New shade on the nature strips
Council planted around 400 street trees across southern St Marys in May and June 2019 under its Cooling the City Strategy. In 2021 it announced 5,000 more street and park trees for St Marys, North St Marys and four neighbouring suburbs, after heat mapping showed low canopy and more residents vulnerable to heat.
An old town with heritage trees
The suburb is named after St Mary Magdalene, the church built between 1837 and 1840. Penrith's DCP protects trees on heritage items, in conservation areas and on its significant tree register, so an old tree on an old lot deserves a call to council before any work.
Tree removal permits in St Marys
Many of the young trees along St Marys kerbs are council plantings. If one is dropping branches, blocking the footpath or growing into your service wire, ring Penrith, which also handles questions about trees on private land.
Don't prune a council tree yourself, or let a contractor do it as a favour: NSW rules say a tree on public land can't be worked on without approval.
In your own yard, 3.5 metres isn't very tall. A fast-growing screen or native planted a few years ago may already be covered by council's rules before it's topped, and leaf drop on its own generally isn't accepted as a reason to take a tree out.
Tree jobs you can do yourself in St Marys
You can
- Water young trees on your own land through hot, dry weeks, and keep mulch off the trunk.
- Prune small, soft growth you can reach with both feet on the ground, using secateurs or loppers.
- Photograph any crack, lean or lifting soil, with something in the shot for scale.
Leave to an arborist
- Anything on a tree 3.5 metres or taller, once council has had its say.
- Branches near the service wire to the house, which Endeavour Energy says should be kept three metres clear by someone qualified.
- Grinding out a stump where pipes or cables might run, once the services have been located.
Hiring an arborist in St Marys
Work out first whether the tree is yours or council's, since so many trees near the kerb are new plantings. For a backyard tree, we'd measure it against the 3.5 metre test and ring council before collecting quotes, so every arborist is quoting for work that's actually allowed.