That distinction matters more here than almost anywhere else in Sydney. Ku-ring-gai’s canopy is the defining feature of suburbs like Pymble, St Ives, Killara, Turramurra and Wahroonga, and Council’s controls are written to protect it. The local government area contains seven threatened ecological communities listed under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and four listed under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Is there a size limit for tree removal in Ku-ring-gai?
This is the question we get asked most, and the answer surprises people.
Several tree companies and comparison sites publish a figure of five metres in height or 150 millimetres of trunk measurement as the Ku-ring-gai trigger. That figure does not appear in the current Part 13 of the Ku-ring-gai DCP. Part 13 prescribes trees, other vegetation and native vegetation as protected, then sets out defined exemptions. It does not offer a blanket height or girth threshold that lets you proceed without checking.
If you have been told your tree is under the limit and therefore fine, that advice may be based on controls that no longer apply. Check the current Part 13 or have someone check it for you.
What counts as injuring a tree?
Part 13 treats a wide range of actions as injury requiring Council’s written consent, not just felling. The list includes:
- Removing, cutting down, clearing or transplanting a tree or other vegetation
- Pruning, or damaging and tearing live branches and roots
- Lopping, meaning height reduction
- Drilling or poisoning, including applying herbicides or other toxic chemicals, and allowing contaminants such as oil, petroleum, paint or cement to reach the root zone
- Ringbarking or damaging the bark, including attaching objects with invasive fastenings, using climbing spikes, or fastening materials around the trunk
- Allowing exotic vines to grow into the trunk and branches where this harms the tree
- Compacting the root zone, including storing or stockpiling materials on it
- Changing ground levels within the root zone by excavation, trenching, filling or stockpiling
- Severing roots with a diameter of 50 millimetres or greater
The last three catch homeowners during building and landscaping work far more often than tree work does. A load of pavers stacked over a root zone for a fortnight, or a trench for a new stormwater line, can be an offence under Part 13 even though nobody touched the canopy.
What can you do without Council consent in Ku-ring-gai?
Part 13 sets out the exempt works below. Two conditions sit over all of them: the exemptions do not apply on land that is a heritage item or within a heritage conservation area, and they do not apply to threatened ecological communities as mapped by Council, or to native vegetation on land included on the Biodiversity Values Map.
Branches directly over the roof
You may remove branches that directly overhang the roof of a residence or commercial building, pruned back to the nearest branch junction or collar to clear the roofline. Detached garages, carports and ancillary buildings are not covered.
Pruning must be consistent with AS 4373-2007, the Australian Standard for pruning of amenity trees, and must not harm the tree’s future health or stability or compromise its form. Part 13 gives a specific example of what falls outside the exemption: removing all the branches from one side of a tree over a roofline would not be exempt.
Vegetation within three metres of a dwelling
Trees and other vegetation within three metres of an existing dwelling on the same property are exempt. The three metres is measured from the centre of the trunk, or the base of the plant at ground level, to the external wall of the dwelling.
The exemption excludes verandahs, carports, detached garages, ancillary buildings, and cantilevered or pier-supported structures such as balconies and decks. So a tree three metres from a deck is not covered, while the same tree three metres from the house wall would be.
The owner of the land on which the trunk sits must agree and give consent before the work. Where a boundary is involved, the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 may also apply.
Branches near electrical service lines
Removal of branches within half a metre of the electrical service lines running to a property is exempt. This applies to branches only, not to trunks, and it concerns the service line to the building rather than the network conductors overhead. Work near live network lines is a separate matter requiring specific accreditation with the network operator.
Minor pruning
Pruning is exempt provided the branches pruned are not more than 50 millimetres in diameter and the roots pruned are not more than 50 millimetres in diameter. Again, the work is expected to be consistent with AS 4373-2007.
Dead wood
Completely dead branches attached to a tree or other vegetation within the property may be removed.
Dead or dying trees
Removal of completely dead or dying trees and vegetation is exempt, but only once Council has advised that it is satisfied the tree is dead or dying and is not required as habitat for native fauna. That notification step is part of the exemption, not an optional courtesy.
Trees posing an imminent risk
Removal of a structurally unsound or unstable tree displaying a high degree of hazard is exempt, again only once Council has advised that it is satisfied the tree poses an imminent risk to human life or property. Part 13 notes that an arborist’s report and testing may be required for significant trees.
Exempt species
Removal of species on the NSW State Priority Weeds list is exempt, as is removal of the species listed in Part 13’s own table. That table currently includes, among others, cocos palm, privet, camphor-adjacent problem exotics such as Chinese nettle tree, cotoneaster, loquat, coral trees, rubber tree, African olive, Lombardy poplar, firethorn, black locust, golden robinia, umbrella tree, broad-leaf pepper tree, rhus, box elder, tree of heaven, evergreen alder, Queensland silver wattle, golden wreath wattle and crested wattle. Liquidambar is on the list only where the tree is less than twelve metres in height.
This table does not apply on heritage items or in heritage conservation areas. Species identification also needs to be right. Several of these have common look-alikes, and removing the wrong tree on the strength of a misidentification is still an offence.
Zoning and overlays that add another layer
Part 13 is not the only control that can apply to your tree. Under the Ku-ring-gai Local Environmental Plan, a number of areas containing significant vegetation or habitat are zoned C1 National Parks and Nature Reserves, C2 Environmental Conservation or C4 Environmental Living. Others are covered by overlay clauses: biodiversity protection under Part 6.3 of the LEP and Part 18 of the DCP, and riparian land and adjoining waterways under Part 6.4 of the LEP and Part 17 of the DCP.
Where a property carries one of these, the tree work needs to be considered against the zoning and overlay provisions as well as Part 13, and potentially under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. A tree that would be exempt on a standard residential lot may not be exempt two streets away on land inside a biodiversity overlay.
Ku-ring-gai’s urban forest includes twenty-four native vegetation communities and provides habitat for a large number of native plant and vertebrate species, including threatened flora and fauna. That is why the overlays exist and why they are applied seriously.
The practical implication is that checking the property’s zoning and overlays is part of the assessment, not an optional extra. Council’s map viewer and the state Biodiversity Values Map and Threshold tool are where that check happens. Part 13 specifically suggests retaining a copy of the vegetation mapping and the report generated from that tool as proof that the consideration was made.
What about the tree on the verge or in the reserve?
Trees on Council-owned or Council-managed land, including street trees and trees in reserves, are handled by Council or Council’s authorised agents. Part 13 exempts that work from the permit process, but the exemption is for Council, not for you.
If a street tree is causing a problem, the pathway is a request to Council rather than a quote from a contractor. Given how much of Ku-ring-gai’s character depends on its street trees, Council applies a high retention threshold to them. Where a street tree is genuinely damaging your property, documented evidence carries far more weight than a description over the phone.
What if the property is heritage listed or in a conservation area?
Under Clause 5.10 of the Ku-ring-gai Local Environmental Plan, development consent is required for works to a tree that is, or forms part of, a heritage item or that is within a heritage conservation area.
There is a narrower path. Works may be carried out with Council’s written consent where Council is satisfied the work is minor in nature, is for maintenance of the heritage item or place, and would not adversely affect heritage significance. Part 13 identifies which works Council may regard as minor: roofline branch removal, minor pruning within the 50 millimetre limits, removal of completely dead branches, and removal of completely dead or dying trees. Removal of a structurally unsound tree posing an imminent risk is also possible once Council has confirmed it is satisfied.
Council’s online map viewer is where you check whether your property or a specific tree carries heritage significance.
How do you apply?
An application goes to Council for any work where a Part 13 exemption does not apply. Applications can only be made by the owner of the land on which the trunk sits, or by an authorised agent, and Council will require proof of that authority.
A development application, rather than a tree application, is required where the proposed works:
- Are within the core riparian zone of Category 1 or 2 riparian land and will disturb soil within two metres of the channel or within the channel itself
- Will affect large stands of trees or other vegetation
- Relate to a tree that forms part of a heritage item or is within a heritage conservation area
There are also two situations where a permit simply cannot be granted. Council cannot permit clearing of native vegetation on land included on the Biodiversity Values Map, except where the tree is assessed to be a risk. Nor can it permit clearing of vegetation that forms part of an Aboriginal object or is within an Aboriginal place of heritage significance. Those cases go to a development application or to the Native Vegetation Panel.
Current fees, assessment timeframes and approval criteria are published on Council’s website and change from year to year, so check them at the time you apply.
Will you have to plant a replacement tree?
Very likely. Part 13 states that Council will require the planting of replacement trees or vegetation and may specify the number, species, provenance, location and stock size, with the aim of achieving a net gain in canopy area at maturity. In a mapped biodiversity area, replacements must be suitable species from that ecological community.
Council publishes a Tree Replacement Planting List for this purpose. Factoring the replacement into your plan at the start avoids an approval arriving with a condition you had not budgeted for.
What about bushfire clearing?
Part 13 recognises two bushfire pathways. Bush fire hazard reduction work authorised under the Rural Fires Act 1997 may be carried out without consent under Part 13, in accordance with Clause 5.11 of the Ku-ring-gai LEP. Clearing under the 10/50 Vegetation Clearing Code of Practice also sits outside Part 13, and Part 13 directs readers to the NSW Rural Fire Service to determine whether a property is in a 10/50 area. Critically endangered ecological communities are excluded.
Given how much of Ku-ring-gai sits close to national park and reserve, this is worth checking properly rather than assuming either way.
What is changing?
Council placed an amendment to Part 13 on public exhibition from late October to late November 2025, described as a minor amendment strengthening the development controls around compliance measures against illegal tree removal. Separately, the NSW Government has proposed state-level changes to increase penalties for illegal clearing and tighten the dead, dying and dangerous exemptions.
Both were still working through their processes at the time of writing. If you are planning tree work, the sensible assumption is that enforcement in Ku-ring-gai is getting firmer rather than looser.
Get the tree assessed before you apply
The fastest route through Ku-ring-gai’s controls is knowing, before you lodge anything, which category your tree falls into. That means confirming the species, checking the heritage and biodiversity mapping for the property, measuring against the exemptions properly, and where a report is needed, preparing it in the form Council expects.
Sydney Tree Company works across Ku-ring-gai, including Pymble and St Ives, and provides tree removal, pruning, tree health inspection and evaluation, stump grinding, arborist advice and assistance with council tree preservation paperwork.
Call 0431 732 265 to arrange a free quote and an on-site assessment.