A track through tall eucalypts near Olinda Falls

Tree removal in Cockatoo

In Cockatoo, the size of your block can matter more than the size of the tree. The exemption near a house stops at 0.4 ha.

We connect you with a local arborist who works in the hills.

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Olinda Forest. Photo: Nick Carson, CC BY 3.0

The rule in Cockatoo

All 25 points we sampled in Cockatoo were under a Cardinia overlay that controls vegetation: VPO1, the low-density overlay, at 11; SLO1, the Puffing Billy corridor, at 7; VPO2, the hills townships, at 5; and ESO1 at 3. They work the same way.

Any size: Any vegetation needs a permit unless an exemption covers it. No trunk is too small to count.

Drawn to scale around a 12 m by 9 m house. The dashed ring is a state rule; the solid ring is a council overlay.

6 m: Vegetation within 6 m of an existing house is exempt, but only on a lot under 0.4 ha. In Cockatoo that condition matters (below).
10 m: The 10/30 rule for a house built or approved before 10 September 2009, whatever the lot size. All 25 points were bushfire-prone. How it works.

Also exempt: the part of a tree over a home's roof where cutting it is needed for fire protection, normal pruning, and the listed environmental weeds. A dead tree needs a council officer's assessment first, and a standing one 40 cm or more across needs a permit.

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 42.02 (VPO1), Cardinia Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.03 (SLO1), Cardinia Planning Scheme, Schedule 2 to Clause 42.02 (VPO2), Cardinia Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.01 (ESO1) and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.12 (bushfire protection exemptions).

The 0.4 ha line

Eleven of the 25 points were in the Low Density Residential Zone, LDRZ2. In Cardinia that zone has a minimum subdivision area of 0.4 ha, which is about an acre. A block cut at the minimum is not under 0.4 ha, so the 6 m exemption does not reach it. Older blocks can be smaller than the minimum, and on those it does.

So the area of your lot decides whether a tree beside the house needs a permit. It is on the certificate of title and the plan of subdivision. On a bigger block, the 10/30 rule is what lets trees close to an older house go without one.

Checked 7 October 2026 against Cardinia Planning Scheme, Schedule 2 to Clause 32.03 (Low Density Residential Zone), Cardinia Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.02 (VPO1) and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.12 (bushfire protection exemptions).

Ash Wednesday and the 50 m rule

Cockatoo was one of the worst-hit towns in the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983. More than 300 buildings were destroyed and six people died. The former kindergarten on McBride Street is now the Ash Wednesday Bushfire Education Centre.

Every point we sampled was under the Bushfire Management Overlay. Under it, an older house can clear everything except trees out to 50 m without an overlay permit. The house has to meet one of the clause's dates, such as being built before 10 September 2009. The 10/30 page lists them all.

Checked 7 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Cockatoo, Victoria and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.12 (bushfire protection exemptions).

Wright Forest and the town's oaks

The first settlers came in the 1870s, and progress was slow because the land was hard to clear. The railway arrived in 1900 and timber-getting became the main work. Wright Forest, 161 ha north-west of the town, is a fauna sanctuary run by Parks Victoria. Some of its trees still have charred bark from 1983.

In town, the red, hybrid and English oaks on McBride Street (HO245) and the cherry laurel in Alma Treloar Reserve (HO246) have heritage tree controls, as does the Puffing Billy line (HO4). Your property report lists any HO number on your block.

Checked 7 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Cockatoo, Victoria and Cardinia Planning Scheme, Schedule to Clause 43.01 (Heritage Overlay).

The rule next door

Emerald, Avonsleigh, Gembrook and Nangana: The same Cardinia overlays. Emerald's town centre has VPO3, without the 6 m exemption.
Macclesfield: Yarra Ranges' SLO6: native vegetation and trees over 1.1 m around, 4 m from a building on any size of lot.

The permit guide has each council.

Checked 7 October 2026 against Cardinia Planning Scheme, Schedule 3 to Clause 42.02 (VPO3) and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 6 to Clause 42.03 (SLO6).

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.

Suburb

Anything else? Optional

How tall the tree is, how close to the house, or whether you can get a truck in.

Photos Optional, up to 4

A photo of the whole tree and one of what's around it help with the quote.

Your name

Phone

Your name, number, what you write and your photos reach us by email and go on to a local arborist who works in the hills, and to no one else. We keep a note that a request came in, with the time, the page, the suburb and the job, so we can count them. Privacy.