Tree removal in Clematis
Clematis is under the Bushfire Management Overlay from end to end. For an older house that adds a 50 m clearing rule to the 10/30 one.
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Ask for a quoteDandenong Ranges. Photo: Uzman Naleer, CC BY-SA 4.0
The rule in Clematis
Clematis is small, so we sampled it closely: 48 points 200 m apart, all inside the suburb. ESO1, Cardinia's northern hills overlay, covered 36 of them, and VPO1 or SLO1 another 6. The only points with neither were roads and a park. None of these overlays sets a minimum size.
- Any size
- Every tree, shrub and patch of understorey needs a permit unless an exemption covers it.
- 6 m
- Near the house, 6 m is exempt when the lot is under 0.4 ha.
- 10 m
- The 10/30 rule for a house built or approved before 10 September 2009. All 48 points were in a Bushfire Prone Area, and all 48 under the Bushfire Management Overlay (below). How it works.
ESO1's list of exemptions goes on: the part of a tree hanging over a home's roof, where fire protection needs it cut; pruning that leaves the plant standing; and its listed weeds. Dead trees go only after a council officer has looked at them, and a standing dead tree 40 cm or more across is not exempt.
Get a free property report from VicPlan to see which overlays cover your block.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Cardinia Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.01 (ESO1), Cardinia Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.02 (VPO1), Cardinia Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.03 (SLO1) and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.12 (bushfire protection exemptions).
Bushfire overlay at every point
Every point we sampled in Clematis was under the Bushfire Management Overlay. For an older house that adds a third distance. Within 10 m, any vegetation can go, trees included. Within 30 m, everything except trees. And under the overlay, everything except trees out to 50 m.
The 50 m rule has its own dates: the house must have been built before 10 September 2009, or lawfully built without a planning permit before 18 November 2011, or approved before 10 September 2009 and built before 18 November 2011. Trees beyond 10 m still need ESO1's permit.
The local CFA brigade was formed in 1936, covers more than half of Cardinia Reservoir, and answers about 100 calls a year.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.12 (bushfire protection exemptions) and Wikipedia: Clematis, Victoria.
Paradise Valley
Clematis was first settled in the 1860s, at the south-eastern end of the Emerald goldfields, where the road from the diggings met the road from Melbourne and Dandenong. The township was subdivided in 1902 as Paradise Valley, a name the hotel still carries, and the station took the name Clematis in 1921. Building Cardinia Reservoir flooded or took over half the township's farmland.
The station below the hotel is now used mainly to load timber for Puffing Billy's locomotives, and stops for passengers only on request.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Clematis, Victoria.
The rule next door
- Emerald
- The same Cardinia overlays, but its town centre has VPO3, which drops the 6 m exemption.
- Menzies Creek
- ESO1 on its Cardinia side, like Clematis. North of the council line it is Yarra Ranges' SLO1 and SLO3: native vegetation, trees over 1.1 m around, 4 m from a building.
The permit guide has each council.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Cardinia Planning Scheme, Schedule 3 to Clause 42.02 (VPO3), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.03 (SLO1) and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 3 to Clause 42.03 (SLO3).
Ask for a quote
Tell us where you are and what needs doing. We pass it to a local arborist who works in the hills. They ring you back to talk about the job.