Canterbury-Bankstown
Bankstown sits on the Cumberland Plain in the amalgamated Canterbury-Bankstown council area, between the Cooks River in the north and the Georges River in the south. Most of it is Wianamatta shale. The southern edge — Padstow, Revesby, Panania, Picnic Point and East Hills — runs down to the Georges River, where the ground changes to sandstone and the vegetation changes with it.
A suburb being rebuilt
The dominant driver of tree work here is redevelopment. Mid-century blocks with generous back yards are being subdivided, built over with duplexes, or filled with granny flats, and the mature trees planted fifty or sixty years ago are in the way.
Two things follow from that.
First, the removals are usually assessed as part of a development application or complying development pathway rather than as standalone tree permits. The consent will name which trees go and which stay.
Second, and more expensively, retained trees frequently do not survive the building work. Compacting the root zone with vehicles and stockpiled material, cutting roots for footings and service trenches, and changing drainage all cause damage that only shows up one to three years later. Fencing a tree protection zone before work starts costs very little compared with replacing a tree the council required you to keep.
The Georges River edge
Padstow Heights, Picnic Point, East Hills and Revesby Heights back onto Georges River bushland, which changes the job. The soil is sandstone, the species are angophora, Sydney peppermint and scribbly gum rather than plain-country red gum, and the blocks fall away steeply behind the house toward the river.
Those properties also carry riparian and, in places, bushfire considerations that the flat suburban blocks a kilometre north do not. Access is the other difference: stairs down to the tree, no vehicle route, and a long hand-carry back up to the street.
What grows here
On the shale, forest red gum and grey box as remnants, with Cumberland Plain woodland patches on the western side of the LGA carrying critically endangered status. In gardens, the post-war planting palette — liquidambar, jacaranda, camphor laurel, privet, Chinese elm, and very large numbers of cocos palms.
Cocos are exempt in most councils, quick to remove and among the cheapest work available. They are also a weed problem in the Georges River bushland, so removal is generally encouraged.
Access
Good on the flat suburban blocks: usable driveways, side gates a machine fits through, and street parking for a chipper and tipper. Difficult on the river-edge properties for the reasons above. Tighter again in the older parts of Canterbury and Campsie, where lots are narrower and parking is contested.
Nearby
Hurstville is across the Georges River to the south-east, Campbelltown is south-west, and Menai sits across the river. The South West Sydney region page covers the councils.
Ring (02) 9000 1943, or read the removal service page and the cost guide.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need approval to remove a tree for a granny flat or a duplex?
Tree removal for a development is normally dealt with through the development application or complying development certificate rather than as a separate tree permit. The approval will specify which trees may be removed and which must be retained and protected. Removing a retained tree afterwards is a breach of the consent, not a small matter.
Is Canterbury-Bankstown strict about tree removal?
Moderately. The council applies a size threshold and an exempt-species list through its development control plan, sitting in the middle of the Sydney range. The complications are the Georges River and Cooks River corridors, which carry riparian controls, and remnant Cumberland Plain woodland on the western side of the LGA.
What happens to trees on a block that is being subdivided?
They are assessed as part of the application, and councils increasingly require canopy retention or replacement planting as a condition of consent. The practical risk is not the approved removals but the retained trees: root-zone compaction, severed roots for footings and services, and altered drainage kill them slowly over the following years.