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Clause 52.37 canopy tree reports
Amendment VC289 introduced Clause 52.37 to every Victorian planning scheme on 15 September 2025. It can require a planning permit to remove a tree on a residential site where nothing else would have triggered one, and a lot of projects have been caught by it.
Fixed quote within one business day · agreed in writing before any work starts
Which trees are caught
A canopy tree must meet all three of these to be protected:
It applies in the Mixed Use, Township, Residential Growth, General Residential, Neighbourhood Residential and Housing Choice and Transport zones. The Low Density Residential Zone is excluded.
Where the boundary rule catches people
A canopy tree with any part of its trunk within 6 m of the narrowest street frontage or 4.5 m of the rear boundary is a boundary canopy tree, and it does not get the exemptions that otherwise apply on a site with an existing dwelling.
This is the part that catches people out. If there is already a house on the block you might assume every tree on it is exempt. A tree sitting inside those boundary bands is not.
The canopy tree minimum is the part that bites
The clause sets a minimum number of canopy trees for the site, by site area. Trees you retain count toward it, so the number you have to plant is the shortfall rather than a penalty for what you removed. On a tight site that shortfall eats into your buildable area.
| Site area | Minimum canopy trees on the site |
|---|---|
| Up to 100 m² | 1 tree |
| 101 to 200 m² | 2 trees |
| 201 to 500 m² | 3 trees |
| 501 to 700 m² | 4 trees |
| 701 to 1,000 m² | 6 trees |
| Over 1,000 m² | 20% canopy cover |
New canopy trees have to be capable of reaching at least 6 m in height and 4 m of canopy at maturity, and they need real ground to do it in: deep soil of at least 12 m² with a minimum dimension of 2.5 m, or a planter of at least 12 m³ at 0.8 m depth. Find that space on the plan before you commit to a footprint.
What the council weighs when it decides
Clause 52.37 exempts the responsible authority from the Clause 65 decision guidelines, which is the provision that would otherwise bring in the Municipal Planning Strategy and the planning policy framework. The decision runs on the clause's own guidelines instead, which works for you or against you depending on what you were planning to argue.
The ones that decide most residential applications are the tree's contribution to canopy and urban heat, its health and stability, damage to buildings, what the design has done to minimise canopy loss, replacement planting, and whether canopy trees have already come off the site in the past twelve months. That last one catches developers who clear early. An application written to these directly is a very different document from a general tree report. The full guide sets out every guideline.
Your overlays still apply on top
Clause 52.37 sits alongside Vegetation Protection, Environmental Significance and Significant Landscape Overlays rather than replacing them. A site can need a permit under both, decided on different tests by different parts of the council. Applications come unstuck when somebody answers one control and assumes it covered the other.
Common questions
When did Clause 52.37 start?
Amendment VC289 introduced it to all Victorian planning schemes on 15 September 2025.
Is a tree exempt if there is already a house on the block?
Only if it is not a boundary canopy tree. A canopy tree with any part of its trunk within 6 m of the narrowest street frontage or 4.5 m of the rear boundary loses that exemption.
Do dead trees need a permit under Clause 52.37?
There are about seventeen exemptions at Clause 52.37-8, most of them for infrastructure and public land. The ones that come up on a residential block are dead trees, emergency works, declared weed species, and lopping or pruning for maintenance provided no more than a third of the foliage is removed. Go past a third and the exemption stops applying. Whether a tree is genuinely dead, as opposed to dormant or badly declining, is worth having assessed rather than assumed.
What does a Clause 52.37 report cost?
Every job is quoted individually and fixed in writing before I start. Councils usually also want a plan showing the tree to be removed, the existing trees being retained and the proposed replacement planting, so tell me whether you need that and it will be in the quote.
How much replacement canopy will I owe?
On sites up to 1,000 square metres it is a set number of trees scaling from one to six by site area. Above 1,000 square metres the test is a minimum 20% canopy cover of the site.
Other services
Tree Removal Report
ResidentialArboricultural Impact Assessment
DevelopmentPreliminary Tree Assessment
Before you designTree Protection Management Plan
DevelopmentRoot & Infrastructure Investigation
InvestigationArboricultural Supervision
On siteConstruction Monitoring
On siteTree Risk Assessment
TRAQ qualifiedTree Protection Zone Advice
Written adviceSend me the plans and I will send you a number.
A fixed fee in writing within one business day, with the scope set out so you know what is included. If it turns out you do not need this report, I will tell you that instead.