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The things worth writing down
Free, no email required, and written because the information either was not available anywhere or was available and wrong. If you find an error in one, tell me and I will fix it.
AS 4970:2025: what changed, and what your council now asks for
NRZ replaced the calculated TPZ, DBH became DSH, and encroachment is now measured against NRZ area. Most of the Melbourne market has not caught up, and two firms still advertise the 2009 edition.
PlanningClause 52.37 canopy trees: a decision tree for builders
Which trees are caught, where the boundary trap sits, what a council may and may not consider, and exactly how much replacement canopy you owe.
PlanningDo you actually need an arborist report?
A short decision path. Some jobs need three reports, some need none, and the difference is usually the zone and the overlay.
FeesWhat an arborist report actually costs in Melbourne
Real market figures, what drives the price up or down, and how to get a fixed number quickly.
Why these exist
Two provisions landed in 2025 and changed how tree work is assessed in Victoria. AS 4970 was revised in May, and Clause 52.37 arrived in September. Between them they altered the vocabulary of every impact assessment and created a permit trigger that reaches trees nothing else reached.
A year on, most of the published guidance still describes the old position. Councils cite the superseded standard in their own documents. The reference body many of them defer to still publishes a calculator built on the 2009 formulas. Two Melbourne consultancies still advertise the 2009 edition as the standard they work to.
None of that is anybody's fault in particular. It is just what happens when the ground moves. But it does mean an applicant trying to do the right thing can read three sources and get three answers, so these pages set out what the provisions actually say and where the published summaries get it wrong.
Got a site this applies to?
Send the address and whatever plans you have. I will tell you which controls apply and what the permit path looks like, within one business day.