Why Yarra Ranges works differently
Plenty of Melbourne councils run a tree local law alongside the planning scheme. Yarra Ranges' private-land tree page talks only about planning permits, so the rules come from the Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme and its overlays, and the planning team is who you ask.
The overlays cover lopping as well as removal. Cutting a protected tree back hard can need the same permit as taking it out.
Trunk sizes in three Yarra Ranges landscape overlays
| Places its description names | What needs a permit | |
|---|---|---|
| SLO Schedule 22 (Foothills and Rural Townships) | Belgrave, Upwey, Tecoma, Montrose, Mt Evelyn, Healesville, Lilydale and Mooroolbark | Indigenous vegetation, and any tree over 0.16 metres trunk diameter at 1.3 metres (about 0.5 metres around) |
| SLO Schedule 23 | Residential parts of Chirnside Park, Healesville, Kilsyth, Mooroolbark and Lilydale | Any tree over 0.26 metres trunk diameter at 1.3 metres (0.8 metres around) |
| SLO Schedule 1 (Dandenong Ranges Landscape) | The ranges landscape itself | Naturally occurring native vegetation, and trees over 1.1 metres around (0.35 metre diameter) at 1.3 metres |
Same suburb, different overlay
Lilydale, Healesville and Mooroolbark turn up in both Schedule 22 and Schedule 23, and the trunk sizes differ between them. Which one applies depends on your street, so look up the actual address rather than the suburb.
Native vegetation, dead trees and bigger blocks
On top of the overlays, Clause 52.17 controls native vegetation across Victoria, including dead native vegetation. Yarra Ranges says a block over 4000 square metres with native vegetation affected will most likely need a permit, usually supported by a Native Vegetation Removal Report.
Council also says a planning permit may be required to remove a completely dead tree. Under Clause 52.17, a standing dead native tree with a trunk 40 centimetres or more across at 1.3 metres stays covered.
Bushfire clearing comes with conditions
Council's page says the state's 10/30 bushfire right only applies in a designated Bushfire Prone Area, and only to a house built or permitted before 10 September 2009. Check both on council's online map (Planning module, search the address) before relying on it, and read our bushfire clearing guide.
A separate fence-line allowance in Bushfire Prone Areas lets owners clear up to a combined four metres either side of an existing fence, with conditions council sets out.
What a Yarra Ranges arborist report covers
- Council requires one if work is within 15 metres of a tree, or will remove, destroy or lop a tree the planning scheme protects.
- Each tree's ID number, a photo, botanic and common names, and its dimensions.
- Health, structure and retention value.
- Tree Protection Zone and Structural Root Zone for each tree, shown on a map.
- An impact assessment consistent with AS 4970:2025, written by a suitably qualified arborist.
Before anything is cut in the Yarra Ranges
Find the overlay schedule
Look up the address on council's online map and note the overlay and its schedule number.
Measure at 1.3 metres
The landscape overlays measure the trunk at 1.3 metres above the ground, so take the tape to that height.
Ring the planning team
Call the planning team with the schedule number and a photo of the tree, and ask whether a permit applies.
Lodge the planning application
Include the arborist report if council asks for it, and a native vegetation report on a larger block.
Yarra Ranges Council tree removal permits: what to do next
In the Yarra Ranges we'd treat any tree with a trunk over about 0.5 metres around as needing a permit until the planning team says otherwise, because that's where Schedule 22 starts. We'd ring with the overlay number ready, and book the arborist report early if any building is planned within 15 metres of a tree.
Want an arborist to look at it?
Tell us the job and your postcode, and a local arborist calls you to talk it through.