Tree removal in Mount Dandenong
Mount Dandenong is part township, part national park. On the private side, the tree rule is SLO1 everywhere we looked: native vegetation of any size, and other trees over 1.1 m around.
We connect you with a local arborist who works in the hills.
Ask for a quoteOlinda Forest. Photo: Nick Carson, CC BY 3.0
The rule on the mountain
The township sits under SLO1, Yarra Ranges' overlay for the ranges, at all 25 points we sampled. Native vegetation needs a council permit to remove at any size. Any other tree needs one when its trunk is more than:
- 1.1 m
- around at chest height (1.3 m). Measure with a tape. Below that, an exotic tree such as a garden conifer or a fruit tree is outside SLO1.
- 4 m
- Plants growing within 4 m of a lawful building are exempt, and overhanging branches can be cut back to 4 m clear.
- 10 m
- The 10/30 rule applies across the mountain: every point was in a Bushfire Prone Area. Read the conditions.
Dead vegetation and the council's listed environmental weeds are exempt from SLO1.
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) and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.12 (bushfire protection exemptions).
Weather on the top
The mountain is colder and cloudier than Melbourne, usually by 4 to 6 degrees in the day. Snow falls a few times most years, mostly from late winter to late spring, and is fairly common above 500 m between June and October. It once fell on Christmas Day, in 2006.
When a storm brings a tree or a limb down, every overlay here allows the part that is an immediate risk of injury or damage to be removed without a permit. Only that part. Leave the rest of the tree standing until it has been looked at, and if a tree is on the house or across the road, call VICSES on 132 500.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Mount Dandenong, Victoria.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 42.03 (Significant Landscape Overlay), Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 42.01 (Environmental Significance Overlay) and VICSES.
Park, forest and the second overlay
Eleven of our 25 points were public conservation land, the Dandenong Ranges National Park and its reserves, where a tree is not yours to remove. On private land, 15 points had ESO1 as well as SLO1. ESO1 protects native vegetation and keeps a permit on a standing dead tree more than 1.3 m around. Nine points had an erosion overlay, where only vegetation within 2 m of a building is exempt by distance.
The William Ricketts Sanctuary on the Tourist Road is a heritage place with tree controls of its own.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.01 (ESO1), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule to Clause 44.01 (EMO), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule to Clause 43.01 (Heritage Overlay) and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 43.01 (Heritage Overlay).
The name
The town was settled in 1893, alongside Olinda. The surveyors first meant to call it Mount Corhanwarrabul, but chose Mount Dandenong for the spelling. Mount Corhanwarrabul still exists, at Burkes Lookout.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Mount Dandenong, Victoria.
The rule next door
- Olinda, Kalorama and Sassafras
- SLO1, the same 1.1 m and 4 m, at every point we sampled.
- Montrose
- Down the north-west face, the township overlay SLO22: trees over 50 cm around, and only 2 m from a building.
Every council's overlays are in the permit guide.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.03 (SLO1) and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 22 to Clause 42.03 (SLO22).
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.