City of Darebin

Tree controls in Darebin

Darebin protects trees by size alone, with no register to check. The test has two limbs and a tree has to fail both to be exempt, which is not how most people read it.

Northcote, Thornbury, Preston, Reservoir, Fairfield, Alphington, Bundoora, Kingsbury

At a glance

Local law: Tree Protection on Private Property Local Law 2019, with a supporting policy from April 2019
Protected tree: Single or combined trunk circumference greater than 100 cm measured at 1.5 m above ground level, AND taller than 8 metres
Note the units: Circumference, not diameter. 100 cm circumference is roughly 318 mm diameter
Register: None. The law is purely threshold based, so there is no list to search
Qualification: Arborist report from a qualified arborist, AQF 5 or above, using an industry recognised method
Risk method: Quantified Tree Risk Assessment where danger to people or property is claimed
Pruning exemption: Non structural branches 75 mm in diameter or less, or pruning by a qualified arborist to AS 4373:2007
Other exemptions: Immediate risk assessed by a qualified arborist, declared noxious weeds, dead palm fronds
Permit fee: $277.00 on the 2026 to 2027 form, with a 50% concession discount
Replacement planting: Minimum one canopy tree for every canopy tree removed, at least 1.5 m high in a 40 cm minimum pot
Penalty: Summons to court, fines up to $2,000 plus Council's legal costs
Canopy cover: 9.8% baseline. Note the 25% target is public land only

Drawn from Council's published material as at August 2026. Councils update without notice, so confirm anything you are relying on for a lodgement.

Both limbs, or neither

The Darebin test is conjunctive. A tree is protected if it is over 100 cm trunk circumference at 1.5 m and over 8 metres tall. A fat short tree is not caught. A tall thin one is not caught either.

That 8 metre height gate is unusual and it does real work. Plenty of mature street facing trees in Northcote and Thornbury sit under it. It also means height has to be measured properly rather than estimated from the ground, because it is half the test.

Darebin is the only council in this group that names AQF Level 5

Its published guidance asks for an arborist report from a qualified arborist at AQF 5 or above, using an industry recognised method. Most neighbouring councils say only "suitably qualified". If you are choosing an arborist for a Darebin job, that is the bar, and a report from below it can be refused on that basis alone.

Replacement planting is a permit condition, not a suggestion

One canopy tree for every canopy tree removed, minimum 1.5 m high in a minimum 40 cm pot. Council states that failing to plant the approved replacements constitutes a permit breach. On a small Preston or Reservoir block that is a real design constraint, and it is worth finding the planting position before the slab is set out rather than after.

What Darebin does not publish

There is no arborist report checklist anywhere in Darebin's planning guidance. Its planning checklists page carries eleven information sheets covering flooding, signage, heritage, car parking and residential development, most of them dated June 2017, and nothing at all on trees or vegetation. AS 4970 is not referenced in the local law, the policy or the application form, in either edition. AS 4373:2007 is named, for pruning.

In practice that means the report has to justify its own methodology rather than pointing at a Council template. State the standard applied and why.

Clause 52.37, published properly

Credit where it is due. Darebin names the clause by number, gives the commencement date of 15 September 2025, and is the only council in this group to name both Canopy Tree and Boundary Canopy Tree on its tree page. It does not reproduce the dimensions, referring out to VicPlan instead, so you still need the test itself. The dual consent point stands here as everywhere: a tree can need a local law permit and a planning permit at the same time.

The urban forest figures need care

Darebin's Urban Forest Strategy dates from December 2013 and runs to 2028. Its 9.8% baseline is the lowest in this group, and the often quoted 25% target is a public land target, not a municipal one. Council's own sampling found private land, at 61% of the area, carried only 7.6% canopy. Quote those figures carefully in an application.

Working on a site in Darebin?

Send the address and whatever plans you have. I will tell you which controls apply, what reports the permit path needs, and what each one costs, within one business day.

Request a quote How quoting works

Tree controls in Darebin

At a glance

Both limbs, or neither

Darebin is the only council in this group that names AQF Level 5

Replacement planting is a permit condition, not a suggestion

What Darebin does not publish

Clause 52.37, published properly

The urban forest figures need care

What I do in Darebin

Tree Removal Report

Arboricultural Impact Assessment

Clause 52.37 Canopy Tree Report

Other councils

Yarra

Merri-bek

Banyule

Boroondara

Stonnington

Whitehorse

Monash

Bayside

Working on a site in Darebin?