In Frankston it's a planning permit if...
- The land has a Significant Landscape, Environmental Significance or Erosion Management Overlay, or a Heritage Overlay that protects trees.
- It's a boundary canopy tree on a residential lot that already has a house (Clause 52.37).
- It's a canopy tree on vacant or commercially used residential land.
- It's native vegetation on land over 4,000 square metres.
- A Section 173 agreement or a covenant on the title says the vegetation stays.
- The tree was kept or planted under an earlier planning permit.
If none of those apply: the local law
Frankston's Tree Protection Local Law 2026 then covers trees with a trunk 110 cm or more around, measured at the base. Council says the law also aims to set a minimum standard for tree pruning across the city.
A local law permit is needed to remove or damage the tree, to prune more than one-third of the outer canopy, or to work in more than 10% of its Tree Protection Zone. That zone's radius is 12 times the trunk diameter at 1.4 m, and never less than 2 m.
Frankston South is stricter
In Frankston South's Significant Landscape Overlay (SLO3), a substantial tree is anything native or exotic with a trunk over 0.50 metres around at 1.4 metres, dead trees and palms included. Removing, destroying, pruning or lopping one needs a planning permit, apart from listed environmental weeds and pruning less than a third of the crown.
Across the rest of the city, council says most dead trees still need a permit to be removed, and its written advice will say if an exception applies to yours.
How to apply in Frankston
Request written advice
Ask council for planning information on the property. The advice letter says which permit applies, and the local law form asks for a copy.
Prepare the details
A site sketch with tree locations, each tree's trunk circumference and species, your reasons, any related permits, and owner consent if you're not the owner.
Add an arborist's report for planning
Council's planning checklist includes an Arborist's Report on the tree's health and condition and a site plan with its location and species.
Lodge and wait for the letter
Lodge online, by email, by post or in person. Council confirms an approval in writing, and enquiries go to council.
If a Frankston tree is about to fail
Ring 000 if anyone is in danger, or the SES for storm damage to the house. Council says only the part of a tree presenting an immediate risk of injury or damage can come off without a permit, and you must be able to show evidence of that risk. Photograph it, keep people well back, and have an arborist assess it before anything more is cut.
What happened to one Langwarrin owner
On 7 February 2025, Frankston reported that a Langwarrin property owner was fined $15,000 in Frankston Magistrates Court, plus $3,946 in council's costs, for offences including removing protected vegetation. Council says it investigates and takes appropriate action when vegetation is removed without the proper permissions.
Frankston City Council tree removal permits: what to do next
We'd lodge the written advice request before talking to any arborist, because it settles which permit and which form. In Frankston South we'd treat dead trees and palms as covered, since SLO3 names them. And we'd keep the advice letter with the quote so everyone works to the same answer.
Want an arborist to look at it?
Tell us the job and your postcode, and a local arborist calls you to talk it through.