Tree removal in Kalorama
Kalorama has more erosion overlay than anywhere else we sampled. On those blocks the ranges rule tightens to 50 cm around the trunk and 2 m from the house.
We connect you with a local arborist who works in the hills.
Ask for a quoteSherbrooke Forest. Photo: Patche99z, Public domain
The rule in Kalorama
Kalorama has two tree rules on most blocks. SLO1, the ranges overlay, was at all 25 points we sampled. An erosion overlay was at 22 of them. Take the stricter number from each:
- 50 cm
- Erosion overlay: a permit to remove vegetation, with only a tree 50 cm or less around at 1.3 m exempt by size.
- 1.1 m
- SLO1: a tree more than 1.1 m around needs a permit, and so does native vegetation of any size.
- 2 m
- Erosion overlay: vegetation within 2 m of a building is exempt.
- 4 m
- SLO1: vegetation whose base is within 4 m of a building is exempt. On an erosion block, that still leaves the 2 m limit.
- 10 m
- The 10/30 rule sits above both, for a house built or approved before 10 September 2009 in a Bushfire Prone Area, which every point was. The details.
Both overlays exempt dead vegetation, though the erosion overlay only where the ground is made good afterwards. Your property report says whether the erosion overlay is on your block.
Get a free property report from VicPlan to see which overlays cover your block.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.03 (SLO1), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule to Clause 44.01 (EMO), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 3 to Clause 44.01 (EMO3) and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.12 (bushfire protection exemptions).
Why the erosion overlay is here
The erosion overlays mark ground prone to landslip. Yarra Ranges also has a separate debris-flow overlay, EMO4, which names the north-west face of Mount Dandenong in the Kalorama and Montrose areas. EMO4 controls building, not trees: it needs no permit to remove vegetation.
On a slope, what happens to the stump matters as much as the tree. Leaving it keeps the roots in the ground; grinding or digging it out disturbs the soil. Ask about the stump when you ask for a quote, and say if the block is steep.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 3 to Clause 44.01 (EMO3) and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 4 to Clause 44.01 (EMO4).
Mountain ash country
The forests around Kalorama are mostly eucalypts, mountain ash among them, the tallest flowering plant in the world. Lyrebirds can be heard in the deeper gullies. Ten of our 25 points were public conservation land, and 13 carried ESO1, which keeps a permit on native vegetation and on standing dead trees more than 1.3 m around.
The Five Ways lookout looks over Kalorama Park, the Silvan Reservoir and the rhododendron gardens. Europeans first took up land here around 1855, and the post office was Hand's Corner, then Mount Dandenong North, before it took the name Kalorama in 1926.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Kalorama, Victoria and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.01 (ESO1).
The rule next door
- Mount Dandenong
- SLO1 everywhere, but the erosion overlay at only 9 of our 25 points.
- Montrose and Mount Evelyn
- Downhill, the township overlay SLO22: 50 cm around, 2 m from a building.
- Silvan
- Mostly the farming overlay, SLO5, with SLO1's 1.1 m and 4 m.
The permit guide sets out every overlay in the hills.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.03 (SLO1), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 22 to Clause 42.03 (SLO22) and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 5 to Clause 42.03 (SLO5).
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.