Tree removal in Sassafras

The Knox side

Sassafras is split between two councils. To find the Knox part we widened the sample to 81 points across 2.4 km, and three of them, on the north-western side and inside the Sassafras locality, came up in Knox. All three were zoned Rural Conservation and sat under Knox's SLO4, with ESO2 at two. The rules there are measured differently:

• SLO4 needs a permit for any tree 5 m tall or more, or more than 50 cm around measured 50 cm above the ground, on the uphill side. A tree whose trunk is within 2 m of a home's main roof is exempt, as is the part of a tree hanging over the roof. A Monterey pine is exempt too, unless it is one of a row of three or more.
• ESO2 needs a permit for vegetation native to Knox, and has no exemption for dead trees or for trees near the house.

Your property report names your council. Applications go to Knox or Yarra Ranges accordingly.

Checked 7 October 2026 against Knox Planning Scheme, Schedule 4 to Clause 42.03 (SLO4) and Knox Planning Scheme, Schedule 2 to Clause 42.01 (ESO2).

On the ridge, above the gully

The village sits at about 500 m, in a saddle on the ridge a few kilometres south of the summit, on the watershed between the Yarra and the Dandenong Creek. It was named for the sassafras trees in the gully along Sassafras Creek, and the post office still goes by Sassafras Gully. The creek's banks are almost all national park, and so is much of the locality to the west.

Fire has come through more than once. Areas near the town are known to have burned since the 1850s, most recently in 1962.

Checked 7 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Sassafras, Victoria.

Heritage gardens

Strathalbyn, on The Crescent, is in the Heritage Overlay with tree controls, so its trees need a heritage permit as well. Henrietta Gulliver's garden estate, Panteg, dates from 1915, and nurseries are still part of the village.

Checked 7 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule to Clause 43.01 (Heritage Overlay), Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 43.01 (Heritage Overlay) and Wikipedia: Sassafras, Victoria.

The rule next door

Olinda, Ferny Creek and Sherbrooke

SLO1 at every point we sampled: 1.1 m around, 4 m from a building.

The Basin

Knox, with its own landscape overlays measured by height and girth, and 2 m from a home's roof.

Both councils are in the permit guide.

Checked 7 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.03 (SLO1) and Knox Planning Scheme, Schedule 2 to Clause 42.03 (SLO2).