City of Whitehorse
Tree controls in Whitehorse
Whitehorse was known for SLO9, a municipal wide landscape overlay that caught trees across the whole council. It stopped applying on 16 June 2026, because the state considered a municipal wide local provision superseded by Clause 52.37. A lot of advice still in circulation has not registered that.
Box Hill, Blackburn, Nunawading, Mitcham, Surrey Hills, Vermont, Forest Hill, Burwood
At a glance
- SLO9
- No longer applies to land in Whitehorse from 16 June 2026, via Amendment C219
- Reason given
- The need for a municipal wide local provision has been superseded by the introduction of the state standard provision
- Significant Landscape Overlay (SLO) schedules still in force
- Schedules 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12
- Protected tree under those SLOs
- Single trunk circumference of 50 cm or more, measured at 1 metre above ground level
- Permit triggered by
- Removal, destruction, lopping, or works within 4 metres of a protected tree
- Vegetation Protection Overlay schedules
- Schedules 1, 3 and 5
- Native vegetation
- Permit required on properties larger than 0.4 hectares
- Arborist guidance
- Council defers to the Council Arboriculture Victoria guideline. No council checklist published
- Canopy cover
- 25.8% measured by lidar in 2023
- Canopy targets
- 27% by 2031 and 30% by 2050, for trees over 3 metres
Drawn from Council's published material as at August 2026. Councils update without notice, so confirm anything you are relying on for a lodgement.
Where Whitehorse measures the trunk
The surviving SLO schedules measure trunk circumference at 1 metre above ground level. Clause 52.37 measures at 1.4 metres. AS 4970:2025 measures Diameter at Standard Height at 1.4 metres.
Those give different numbers on the same tree, and a Blackburn oak can sit over the threshold on one measure and under it on the other. Both figures belong in the report.
Council's own site is out of step with its own amendment
Whitehorse's private property tree page still says most trees in Whitehorse are protected by planning overlays and still refers to SLO9. The amendment page says SLO9 stopped applying on 16 June 2026. The amendment is the position that binds. If you have been told your tree is protected on the basis of SLO9, that advice needs rechecking.
What replaced it, in practice
Applicants now fall back on Clause 52.37 plus whichever site specific overlay schedule covers the land. Some addresses are caught by less than they were, some by much the same. The first question on any Whitehorse site is now which schedule, if any, covers that particular address.
Whitehorse publishes unusually good canopy data
Whitehorse publishes lidar measured canopy cover of 25.8% from 2023, with targets of 27% by 2031 and 30% by 2050. That matters for an application because it gives you a documented basis for a canopy argument. Where a proposal retains meaningful canopy, saying so against the council's own published figure is more persuasive than saying so in the abstract.
What I do in Whitehorse
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
Stonnington
Malvern, Toorak, Prahran, Armadale, Glen Iris, South Yarra
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 Whitehorse?
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.