Short answer: on the Gold Coast, often yes, and the fines for getting it wrong are not small.
Longer answer below. This is a general guide to help you work out where you probably stand. It is not legal advice, and the only way to be certain about your property is to check the mapping and, where needed, ask the council. We do that as part of every quote.
Vegetation on private land in the City of Gold Coast is regulated through the City Plan, and specifically the Vegetation Management Code.
The council splits the work into two categories. Accepted development means the work meets set criteria and you do not need to lodge anything. Assessable development means you need approval, and that comes through an operational works application for vegetation clearing.
Council publishes a self-assessment checklist to help you work out which one you are in. It is genuinely useful and worth ten minutes of your time before you get quotes. If you are still unsure after that, the City’s vegetation team takes calls on 07 5582 8708.
These are the situations where approval is often not required, and they are the ones most homeowners fall into. The exact thresholds vary with lot size, so treat these as a guide rather than a rule.
Small trees. Council defines assessable vegetation as more than four metres in height, or with a trunk more than 40 centimetres in circumference measured 1.3 metres above the ground. Below both of those, the size test does not catch it.
Close to the house. Vegetation within a set distance of an approved building, with the distance depending on lot size. Roughly three metres on smaller lots, more on larger ones.
Close to a fence line or pool fence. Vegetation within a set distance of an existing or proposed boundary fence, again scaled to lot size, and within about 1.5 metres of a pool fence.
Identified pest species. Some species are treated as pests rather than protected vegetation. Cocos palms and umbrella trees are the ones we deal with most. Council requires the pest species to be identified by a Level 3 arborist, and it points people to the Queensland Arboricultural Association to find one. We are QAA members and we hold that qualification, so we can make that identification for you.
Bushfire hazard areas. Vegetation within a set distance of a dwelling in a mapped bushfire hazard overlay, or covered by an approved bushfire management plan.
Trees assessed as dangerous by a council arborist.
Trees on land inside a vegetation management overlay, an environmental significance overlay or a mapped conservation area. Trees on body corporate and common property, which are treated differently to trees on a private lot. Trees that are part of a condition of a previous development approval. Larger native trees on acreage, particularly through the hinterland.
Note that dead trees are not automatically exempt. A lot of people assume they are, and it is one of the more common ways to end up in trouble.
Different council, different rules, and if you are north west of the Gold Coast boundary this is the one that applies to you.
Logan works off the Logan Planning Scheme and its vegetation management areas mapping. It divides protected vegetation into two categories. Primary vegetation is all native vegetation in mapped areas. Secondary vegetation is native trees over four metres tall or with a trunk circumference of 31.5 centimetres or more, measured at 1.3 metres from the ground.
Logan also has biodiversity overlays, including koala habitat and corridor mapping, and waterway corridor provisions. On acreage around Jimboomba, Cedar Grove and Logan Village, those overlays catch a lot of properties.
You can check your own property on the Logan PD Hub, the council’s online mapping tool. It takes a few minutes and it tells you which overlays apply to your block. Where approval is needed, it is an operational works application for vegetation clearing.
State legislation can apply on top of council rules where remnant vegetation is involved, which is a separate process again.
At the quote, we identify the species, measure it, look at where it sits relative to your house and boundaries, and check the mapping for your property.
Then we tell you plainly: no approval needed, approval needed, or we need to confirm with council. If approval is needed, we can prepare the supporting assessment and lodge on your behalf so you are not working out a planning form on a Sunday night.
We will not remove a protected tree without approval, whatever the circumstances. It puts you at risk of a substantial fine and it puts our business at risk, so it is not a conversation we can be talked into.
Fines for unlawful vegetation clearing in Queensland are significant and can be issued against the property owner, not only the contractor. It is not worth the risk.
Pruning protected vegetation can also require approval, depending on how much is being removed. It is not only full removals that are regulated.
Not automatically. Dead trees can still be protected, and a dead tree in a mapped area often still needs approval. We check it before anything is cut.
Yes. We can prepare the supporting arborist assessment and lodge the application on your behalf for both Gold Coast City Council and Logan City Council.
