These are the questions worth having answered before you call anyone about a tree near a wire.
Who is responsible for trees near powerlines, me or the network operator?
It depends which line the tree is near.
The network operator, which in most of Sydney is Ausgrid and in the south west is Endeavour Energy, is responsible for maintaining clearances around its own network assets that are not on private property. That is the poles and wires in the street.
Property owners are responsible for maintaining safe clearances around private poles and powerlines inside their property boundary. Ausgrid’s position is that all power poles and powerlines between the first point of connection on the property and the switchboard or meter, and those extending into the property, are part of your electrical installation, and you must keep them safe and properly maintained.
So the short version: the street network is theirs, everything from the connection point into your property is yours. If you are not sure which side of that line your tree sits on, ask the network operator before you book anything.
Can I trim a tree near a powerline myself?
No, and this is not a matter of preference.
Any tree trimming performed within three metres of Ausgrid powerlines must only be carried out by workers accredited under the SafeWork code of practice for work near overhead power lines, and the work must be done in accordance with that code. Trimming inside the No Go Zone defined in that code can only be done at the network operator’s direction.
Electricity does not require contact to be dangerous. It can arc across a gap, and a branch, a wet rope or a metal ladder can complete a circuit. A tree in contact with a line may also be energised at ground level.
There is no version of this where a homeowner with a pole saw is the right answer.
What if a tree is already touching the line?
Treat it as an emergency and stay away from it.
Do not approach the tree, do not let anyone else approach it, keep children and animals clear, and call the network operator’s emergency line. If there is fire, a fallen conductor, or immediate danger to people, call emergency services first.
The same applies if a tree or a large limb comes down onto lines during a storm. A downed conductor on the ground may still be live and the ground around it can be energised.
This is not a job you get a quote for. It is a job you report.
Can the network operator make me trim my trees?
Yes. Under Section 48 of the Electricity Supply Act 1995 (NSW), Ausgrid can serve a notice on owners and occupiers, including councils, requiring them to trim or remove trees on their property where those trees could destroy, damage or interfere with the network, or make the network a potential cause of bushfire or a potential risk to public safety.
If the responsible landowner or occupier does not carry out the work, the network operator can arrange for it to be done and can charge the costs to the landowner or occupier, in accordance with the Act.
There is a cost qualification worth knowing. Ausgrid is generally required to pay for works carried out on trees that were planted before its network was installed, and on trees that propagated naturally. Whose tree came first is a real question and worth raising if you receive a notice.
Network operators inspect assets in bushfire zones each year and may serve defect rectification notices where clearances are not met.
Do I still need council approval to trim a tree near a powerline?
Usually, yes. Electricity legislation and council tree controls operate separately, and complying with one does not release you from the other.
Councils do commonly provide a narrow exemption for work close to the service line. Ku-ring-gai, for example, exempts removal of branches within half a metre of the electrical service lines to a property, for branches only and not trunks. Other councils word it differently or not at all, and some exemptions do not apply on heritage land.
Where you have received a defect notice from the network operator, that notice covers work required under the Electricity Supply Act, and depending on the type and size of vegetation involved you may still need council permission for the wider work. Raise both together rather than dealing with them in sequence, and ask whoever quotes the job which approvals they are handling.
What are minimum vegetation clearances?
Network operators maintain minimum clearance distances between vegetation and their assets, based on industry standards recognised by the industry regulator, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of NSW.
The distances vary with the voltage of the line, the type of conductor, the species and its growth rate, and the environment, so there is no single number that applies everywhere. How much a network operator trims depends on those factors and on the trimming cycle for that area, which typically runs over a period of one to two years depending on regrowth rate, fire risk, climate and vegetation type.
The practical point for a property owner is that the clearance has to be maintained continuously, not achieved once. A tree trimmed to clearance will grow back into it, and the timing of the next cut is what determines whether you receive another notice.
Why does the trimming look so severe?
Network trimming is done to a clearance envelope, with an allowance for regrowth until the next cycle. The result is often a V-shape or a flat side through the canopy, which looks unbalanced from the footpath.
Network operators employ qualified arborists and horticulturalists on this work and it is carried out to required standards, but the constraint is electrical safety rather than the tree’s appearance. A tree planted directly under a line will always be trimmed this way, every cycle, for its entire life.
That is the argument for dealing with the planting decision rather than the trimming. Where a tree under a line is going to be repeatedly disfigured, replacing it with a species suited to the location is usually the better long-term outcome for the garden as well as the network.
What should I plant near powerlines?
Species selection is the whole answer here, and it is decided before planting rather than managed afterwards.
Network operators publish suitable and unsuitable planting species fact sheets for exactly this purpose, and it is worth consulting them before buying anything that goes near a line. The general principle is small-growing species directly under and adjacent to lines, with larger species set back far enough that their mature canopy will never reach the clearance envelope.
Mature height is the figure that matters, not the size of the plant in the pot. A great many powerline conflicts in Sydney trace back to a tree planted forty years ago by someone who did not know how big it would get.
Where a council approval requires replacement planting, species suitability near lines is worth raising with council at the application stage rather than discovering the conflict later.
Who pays if my tree causes a power outage?
This depends on the circumstances, on whose tree it is, on whether a notice had been served, and on the terms of the relevant legislation and your insurance. It is not something a tree company can answer for you, and any who states a general rule is overreaching.
What is within your control is the evidence. If you receive a notice, act on it and keep records. If you have a tree of concern near lines, have it assessed and keep the assessment. Documented maintenance is the thing that makes the difference if the question ever arises.
For anything turning on liability or an insurance claim, speak to your insurer and, if the amounts are significant, get legal advice.
Is a tree near a powerline a bushfire risk?
It can be, and this is why network operators inspect bushfire zones annually and why Section 48 refers specifically to trees that could make the network a potential cause of bushfire.
Vegetation contacting a conductor can arc and ignite. In bushfire-prone areas that risk is taken seriously by both network operators and councils, and it interacts with the other vegetation rules: the 10/50 Vegetation Clearing Scheme administered by the NSW Rural Fire Service operates in designated entitlement areas, bushfire hazard reduction work authorised under the Rural Fires Act 1997 sits outside some council tree controls, and network clearance obligations run alongside both.
On a bushfire-interface property, those three frameworks can all be relevant to the same tree. Working out which applies is worth doing properly before any work is booked.
What is the No Go Zone?
The No Go Zone is a term defined in the SafeWork code of practice for work near overhead power lines. It describes the area closest to a live conductor, within which work can only be carried out at the direction of the network operator.
It exists because electricity can arc across a gap. The relevant distances vary with the voltage of the line, so there is no single figure, and the code sets out how they are determined. Working out which zone applies to a particular job is part of a properly accredited operator’s planning, not something judged by eye from the ground.
Outside the No Go Zone but within three metres of an Ausgrid powerline, work still requires accredited workers operating under the code. Beyond that, normal tree work rules apply, with the usual caution that a branch under tension can move a long way when it is cut.
Who deals with a tree on the nature strip that is near a line?
Both questions have the same answer and it is not you.
Trees on council-owned or managed land, including nature strips, are council’s responsibility to maintain, and residents generally cannot prune or remove them. Vegetation clearance around the network in the street is the network operator’s responsibility where the asset is not on private property.
In practice councils and network operators coordinate this work, and a street tree near a line will typically be trimmed by the network operator’s contractors to the clearance envelope, with the council retaining responsibility for the tree’s overall management.
If a street tree near a line concerns you, lodge a service request with the council and report the line clearance concern to the network operator. Reporting it to both is not duplication, because they are responsible for different things about the same tree.
Can I refuse to have my tree trimmed?
Not where a notice has been served under Section 48. The Act allows the network operator to require the work, and to arrange and charge for it if the owner or occupier does not carry it out.
What you can do is engage with how the work is done. Where a tree has amenity or heritage value, it is worth raising that with the network operator early, because there may be options: a different cutting approach, aerial bundled conductor or undergrounding in some circumstances, or removal and replacement with a species suited to the location. Those conversations go better before the crew is booked than after.
It is also worth checking whether the tree pre-dates the network or propagated naturally, since Ausgrid is generally required to pay for works in those cases.
Where you believe a notice has been issued in error, for example because the tree is not on your land or not your responsibility, take that up with the network operator directly and in writing.
My neighbour’s tree is near the line running to my house. What then?
This is the most common version of the problem and it sits awkwardly between the two systems.
The service line from the network to your house is part of your electrical installation and your responsibility to keep clear. The tree growing into it may be on land you do not own and cannot authorise work on.
The starting point is a conversation with the neighbour, since the work benefits both of you and a line brought down in a storm affects both properties. Council approval may be needed for the pruning, and the application would be made by the owner of the land the trunk sits on.
If the neighbour will not engage and the situation is unsafe, report it to the network operator. They can assess it and, where the tree could interfere with the network or create a safety or bushfire risk, they have the Section 48 power to require the work.
What should I ask a contractor quoting tree work near lines?
- Which line is the tree near, the street network or my service line, and who is responsible for it?
- Are your workers accredited under the SafeWork code of practice for work near overhead power lines?
- Will any part of this work be within three metres of a powerline, and if so, who does that part?
- Does the work need the network operator’s involvement or direction?
- Do I need council approval for this as well, and are you arranging it?
- Have I been served a notice, and does this quote cover everything the notice requires?
- What clearance are you cutting to, and how long before it grows back into the envelope?
If a contractor is vague on the first three, that is your answer.
Get the tree and the line assessed properly
Trees near powerlines sit across three sets of rules at once: the network operator’s clearance obligations, your council’s tree controls, and in bushfire-prone areas the rural fire framework. An assessment on site is where those get untangled for your specific property.
Sydney Tree Company provides tree pruning, tree removal, tree health inspection and evaluation, palm pruning, stump grinding and removal, arborist advice and assistance with council tree preservation paperwork across the Sydney metropolitan area and regional Sydney.
Call 0431 732 265 to arrange a free quote and an on-site assessment.