City of Yarra

Tree controls in Yarra

Yarra's General Local Law runs out on 31 August 2026 and the Community Local Law 2026, adopted on 9 June 2026, takes over the next day. This is my home council. Below is what the current law requires, and what I would check before relying on anything about the new one.

Clifton Hill, Fitzroy, Collingwood, Richmond, Abbotsford, Carlton North, Cremorne, Princes Hill

At a glance

Until 31 Aug 2026: General Local Law. Significant tree is 400 mm trunk diameter measured at 1.5 m above ground, or at ground level
From 1 Sep 2026: Community Local Law 2026, adopted 9 June 2026. Confirm the significant tree definition against the gazetted text before you rely on it
Multi stemmed: Council sums the circumferences of the stems and compares the total to 125.66 cm, which is the circumference of a 400 mm trunk. Note this is not the AS 4970 method, which takes the square root of the sum of the squares, so the two give different answers
What needs a permit: Remove, damage, destroy or lop a significant tree under the local law. Council's own significant trees page also lists pruning, and charges a pruning permit fee
Penalty: Up to 20 penalty units, about $4,180 at the 2026-27 unit value
Register: Both. The size threshold catches trees automatically, and the Urban Forest Register lists trees individually or in groups regardless of size
Register nominations: Assessed quarterly, and Council says assessment can take up to six months
Landscape plans: Must show Tree Protection Zone (TPZ) and Structural Root Zone (SRZ) for existing trees. Council may also require what it calls a Tree Impact Study
Asset protection bond: From $5,000 for all works. Where the works involve concrete Council drainage the minimum rises to $15,000, and where the drainage is brick it is $50,000
Canopy cover: 17% across the municipality, targeting 21.25% by 2040

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 local law changes over on 1 September 2026

Council adopted the Community Local Law 2026 on 9 June 2026. It was gazetted and commences on 1 September 2026, and the General Local Law is revoked the same day.

Under the law as it stands, a significant tree is one whose trunk or trunks measure 400 mm diameter or more at 1.5 m above ground, or at ground level, and you need a permit to remove, damage, destroy or lop one. Council's significant trees page also lists pruning as requiring a permit and publishes a pruning permit fee, so treat pruning a significant tree in Yarra as permit territory now, not from September.

Check the gazetted text before you rely on the new definition

The version of the Community Local Law that went out for public exhibition kept the 1.5 m measurement height and the same four prohibited acts. I have seen it suggested that the height moves to 1.4 m to line up with Clause 52.37 and AS 4970:2025, and that would be a sensible tidy up, but I have not been able to confirm it in the adopted instrument.

If your tree measures anywhere near 400 mm, this matters: 100 mm further down a tapering trunk is a wider measurement, and it can move a tree from outside the control to inside it. Ring Council and get the measurement height confirmed in writing before you commit either way. I will update this page once I have the gazetted text.

Yarra sets its threshold as a diameter, and Darebin next door sets a circumference

Yarra sets 400 mm diameter. Darebin next door sets 100 cm circumference, which works out at about 318 mm diameter. Merri-bek also uses 400 mm diameter, but takes the measurement at 1.2 m rather than 1.5 m. Three adjoining councils and three different tests, so check which one you are actually under before you measure anything.

Yarra's Clause 52.37 information is incomplete

Council's vegetation removal page gives the three part canopy tree test correctly, but it names only the Mixed Use, General Residential and Neighbourhood Residential zones. The clause also applies in the Residential Growth Zone and the Housing Choice and Transport Zone. The page also says nothing at all about boundary canopy trees, the 6 m street frontage rule or the 4.5 m rear boundary rule, and never cites the clause by number.

Do not plan a Yarra site off that page alone. The state provision is what binds.

What Yarra asks for in a report

Less than you would expect. The vegetation removal page lists an arborist report only under what you may also need to provide, from a "suitably qualified arborist". No AQF level is named and AS 4970 is not mentioned in either edition.

The landscape plan requirements page is the stronger document and the one to work to. It requires existing trees identified with botanical names, height and canopy spread, the adjoining construction elements that might affect them, and TPZ and SRZ for every retained tree. Where significant vegetation is involved, Council may ask for a Tree Impact Study, which is Yarra's own term for what everyone else calls an impact assessment.

You may need two separate permits

A Yarra site can need a local law permit for the tree and a planning permit for the works. Different parts of Council decide them, on different tests, and getting one does not get you the other. Council states plainly that there is no guarantee a permit will be issued, so build the programme assuming both take time.

What I do in Yarra

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.

Residential

Arboricultural 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.

Development

Clause 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 · Planning

Other councils

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

Whitehorse

Box Hill, Blackburn, Nunawading, Mitcham, Surrey Hills

Monash

Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, Clayton, Oakleigh, Chadstone

Bayside

Brighton, Sandringham, Hampton, Black Rock, Beaumaris

Working on a site in Yarra?

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.

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