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 It stopped applying on 16 June 2026, because the state considered a municipal wide local provision superseded by Clause 52.37.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- The need for a municipal wide local provision has been superseded by the introduction of the state standard provision
- 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
- VPO 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.
The measuring height trap
This is the single most useful thing to know about Whitehorse. 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 DSH at 1.4 metres.
On a tree that tapers, and most do, those give different numbers, and a tree can be over the threshold on one measure and under it on another. Measuring at the wrong height is a live source of rejected applications here. 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 SLO or VPO schedule covers the land. That is a narrower net in some places and a similar one in others, and it means the first question on a Whitehorse site is which schedule, if any, applies to this particular address.
Best measured canopy data in the belt
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
The report councils ask for when your works reach a tree. Every tree assessed, every zone calculated to AS 4970:2025, every encroachment justified.
DevelopmentClause 52.37 Canopy Tree Report
The provision that landed in September 2025 and caught most of the industry flat. Assessment, permit triggers and replacement canopy strategy.
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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.