City of Stonnington
Tree controls in Stonnington
Stonnington protects significant trees by size rather than by list, which means you do not get to check a register to find out whether your tree is caught. You measure it.
Malvern, Malvern East, Toorak, Prahran, Armadale, South Yarra, Windsor, Glen Iris
At a glance
- Local law
- General Local Law 2018 (No. 1), amended 2023. Tree provisions in Part 14
- Significant tree
- Trunk circumference 180 cm or more at ground level, or 140 cm or more at 1.4 m
- Permit needed for
- Removing, pruning, or works affecting roots in the area surrounding a significant tree
- Penalty, removal
- 20 penalty units for removing, killing or damaging a significant tree, about $4,180 at the 2026-27 unit value
- Penalty, pruning
- 10 penalty units for lopping, pruning or trimming, about $2,090
- Penalty, works in a protection zone
- 10 penalty units for works inside a tree protection zone, charged in its own right
- Overlays
- Significant Landscape Overlays and Neighbourhood Character Overlays. In either, a permit is required to remove any tree regardless of its significance
- Asset bond
- Minimum $3,000, and trees are expressly a listed protected asset
- Admin fee
- $450 for a single dwelling. Multi unit from $1,114 to $2,238
Drawn from Council's published material as at August 2026. Councils update without notice, so confirm anything you are relying on for a lodgement.
No register to check, so measure the tree
Most councils keep a nominated register of significant trees. Stonnington sets a size instead and lets it catch whatever it catches. There is no list to search, so if your tree is anywhere near either threshold you need to get a tape on it before you assume anything.
Circumference is the measurement around the trunk. A 140 cm circumference works out at roughly a 45 cm diameter, which is a smaller tree than most people picture.
Works inside a protection zone are an offence in their own right
Stonnington charges works within a Tree Protection Zone at 10 penalty units in its own right, separate from any damage to the tree, so you can be liable without the tree being harmed at all. Storing bricks inside the fence would do it. That is why the protection plan and the site induction are worth getting right here.
Neighbourhood Character Overlays
Where an NCO applies, every tree needs a permit, significant or not. The best known is Hedgeley Dene in Malvern East, the first area in Victoria deemed to have a character warranting this kind of protection. Its exemptions are narrow: trees under 5 m tall or under 0.5 m trunk circumference, electric line clearance, immediate risk, and emergency access.
Council's Clause 52.37 page looks incomplete
Stonnington's published summary describes the permit trigger as applying where the land is vacant, or vacant with a new single dwelling proposed. It omits the boundary canopy tree limb that catches developed lots. The state provision is the one that binds, so do not plan around the shorter version on the council page.
What Stonnington does not publish
Stonnington publishes no arborist report checklist and names no minimum qualification, and AS 4970 appears nowhere in its tree material. That is unusual for a council this active on tree protection. It means your report cannot point at a Council template to justify its approach, so it has to state which standard it worked to and why.
What I do in Stonnington
Tree Removal Report
Council has asked for an arborist report before it will consider removing your tree. This is that report, and it is usually the whole job.
ResidentialArboricultural Impact Assessment
What councils ask for when your works reach into a tree's root zone. Each tree assessed, the zones calculated to AS 4970:2025, and the encroachment measured and justified.
DevelopmentClause 52.37 Canopy Tree Report
The provision that arrived in September 2025 and now catches trees nothing else reached. Which of yours are caught, whether you need a permit, and what replacement planting you owe.
Residential · PlanningOther councils
Yarra
Clifton Hill, Fitzroy, Collingwood, Richmond, Abbotsford, Carlton North
Darebin
Northcote, Thornbury, Preston, Reservoir, Fairfield, Alphington
Merri-bek
Brunswick, Coburg, Pascoe Vale, Fawkner, Glenroy, Brunswick East
Banyule
Ivanhoe, Heidelberg, Eaglemont, Rosanna, Viewbank, Montmorency
Boroondara
Camberwell, Hawthorn, Kew, Balwyn, Glen Iris, Canterbury
Whitehorse
Box Hill, Blackburn, Nunawading, Mitcham, Surrey Hills
Monash
Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, Clayton, Oakleigh, Chadstone
Bayside
Brighton, Sandringham, Hampton, Black Rock, Beaumaris
The provisions behind these controls
AS 4970:2025 explained
What changed, how the zones are calculated now, and what to do with a council checklist still written in 2009 language.
Clause 52.37 canopy trees
Which trees are caught, the boundary trap, what council may weigh, and how many canopy trees your site has to end up with.
Do you need an arborist report?
A short decision path. Some jobs need three consents and some need none.
Working on a site in Stonnington?
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.