Council approval
Does every tree need council approval in Sydney?
No, but most mature ones do, and the threshold changes with your address. Every council writes its own tree preservation order into its development control plan, and they are genuinely different documents. Ku-ring-gai, Woollahra, Mosman and Willoughby protect trees at modest sizes and enforce actively. Penrith, Blacktown and Campbelltown set larger thresholds and maintain longer exempt-species lists. The only reliable answer is your own council's current DCP.
What about dead or dangerous trees?
Dead trees are exempt in most Sydney councils, but "dead" means dead, not declining. Dangerous is harder: councils generally want an arborist's assessment that identifies the specific structural defect. If a tree has already failed and is resting on a structure, that is emergency work and can proceed, with the council notified after the fact.
What is the 10/50 rule?
The NSW 10/50 vegetation clearing entitlement lets an owner remove trees within ten metres of an external wall of a home, and clear underlying vegetation within fifty metres, without approval — but only where the property sits inside a mapped 10/50 entitlement area. Those areas are drawn around bushfire-prone bushland and are published on the Rural Fire Service website. Being near bush is not enough; the map is what counts. Check your address first, because the entitlement has been trimmed since it was introduced and plenty of properties that once qualified no longer do.
Powerlines and services
Can you cut a tree that is touching the powerlines?
Not inside the approved clearance zone around a live conductor. That work requires an accredited service provider and, for close work, a scheduled outage arranged through Ausgrid. Report the tree to Ausgrid — it costs you nothing and it is the correct process. Outside that zone, ordinary crews can work normally.
What about the service line to my own house?
The overhead service line from the street to your eaves is your responsibility to keep clear, but the clearance rules still apply. It is usually arranged as an isolation with the network operator so the line is dead while the work happens.
The work itself
What is the difference between lopping and pruning?
Pruning to Australian Standard AS 4373 removes branches back to a suitable lateral or to the branch collar, so the wound seals and the tree keeps a sensible structure. Topping cuts a canopy back to bare stubs. Topped eucalypts respond with dense epicormic regrowth attached only to the outer wood, which is weaker than the original limbs and fails more readily in five to ten years. Ask for reduction pruning, not topping. The tree lopper service page goes into this in more detail.
Will removing the tree damage my paving or slab?
Sometimes the opposite. On Wianamatta shale, a large gum draws a great deal of water out of the clay in summer. Remove it and the clay re-wets and swells over the following seasons, which can lift slabs and crack brickwork on shallow footings. It is worth raising with your builder before removing a very large tree close to a house on clay.
What happens to the timber and the mess?
Branch material is chipped on site and carted, or dropped as mulch on your garden beds if you want it. Trunk wood is cut into rounds and removed. Firewood lengths can be left stacked if you ask before the crew starts. Sawdust from stump grinding is generally left in the hole unless you arrange otherwise, since it settles considerably.
How much will it cost?
Access drives Sydney pricing more than trunk diameter does. The tree removal cost guide sets out the ranges published in our own guidance and, more usefully, the factors that move a quote. If budget is tight, the cheap tree removal page explains what you can honestly do to bring a price down and which savings are false economies.
Still stuck? Ring (02) 9000 1943 or send the details through.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out if my tree is protected?
Search your council's name plus development control plan tree preservation. The relevant part sets a height and trunk-circumference threshold, lists exempt species, and explains whether you need a permit or a full development application. If the tree is on the nature strip it belongs to the council outright and no private contractor may touch it.
How long does a council tree application take?
Most Sydney councils quote around four to six weeks for a straightforward permit, and longer where a development application or an arborist report is required. Dead, dying or imminently dangerous trees are handled faster, but councils generally want evidence, which usually means a report from a qualified consulting arborist.
Can I remove a tree that is dropping leaves in my gutters?
Almost certainly not, in a council area that regulates the species. Leaf litter, shade, fruit drop and minor surface roots are maintenance nuisances rather than grounds for removal, and applications on those grounds are routinely refused. Gutter guard and an annual clean are a far cheaper answer than an application that fails.
Is stump grinding included in a removal quote?
Usually not by default, because it needs different machinery. Ask for it to be priced in the same visit rather than as a return trip — the second mobilisation is the expensive part. Grinding takes the stump and buttress roots roughly two to three hundred millimetres below grade, which is enough for turf but not always enough for footings.