This is a different model again to the two councils we have covered so far. Ku-ring-gai protects prescribed vegetation and lists exempt works. Hornsby Shire protects all trees except a named species list, with no general size trigger. The Hills Shire uses a size definition as the gateway and then layers exemptions on top. If you have moved between these council areas, the rules you learned at the last house do not carry over.
When is a tree protected in The Hills Shire?
Council’s tree management material defines a tree by size. A tree is captured where it has any one of:
- A spread of more than three metres
- A height of more than six metres
- A trunk diameter of more than three hundred millimetres, measured at the base
Note the measurement point. The Hills measures trunk diameter at the base, not at breast height, which is where most other councils and the Australian Standards measure. A tree with a flared base can reach three hundred millimetres at ground level well before it would at 1.4 metres up, so a tree you assume is under the threshold may not be.
These provisions apply to all land within The Hills Shire local government area, and the rules apply to native and exotic trees alike. Lot size makes no difference, so an acreage property at Dural is treated the same way as a standard block at Castle Hill.
The authority comes from the State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021, with the local detail sitting under Clause 5.9 of The Hills Local Environmental Plan and The Hills Development Control Plan 2012.
What needs consent?
Council’s position on private trees is that consent is required to:
- Prune a tree by more than ten per cent
- Remove any tree not exempted from the tree preservation provisions
- Substantially alter the soil level within the three metres surrounding the tree’s trunk
That third one is the sleeper. Changing soil levels within three metres of a protected trunk needs consent even though the tree itself is untouched. Landscaping, a new path, a raised garden bed, levelling for a shed or regrading a driveway can all trigger it. It is the same category of provision as Hornsby’s tree protection zone rule, applied at a shorter distance and expressed in terms of soil level rather than construction type.
What is exempt?
Pruning up to ten per cent
Up to ten per cent of a tree’s overall canopy may be pruned per growing season without a permit. Council’s conditions are that the work must be in accordance with AS 4373-2007, the Australian Standard for pruning of amenity trees, and that it should be undertaken by a professional arborist at AQF Level 3.
Ten per cent of an overall canopy is a modest amount on a mature tree, and it is per growing season rather than per job. It covers tidying and clearance work. It does not cover a reduction.
Council also makes a point about neighbour pruning: where a neighbour’s tree overhangs your property, you may prune only ten per cent of the canopy, the work must comply with AS 4373, and it must be undertaken from within your own property. You are not permitted simply to prune the tree back to the boundary line. Our guide to when to prune trees in Sydney covers why fence-line pruning is poor practice as well as a compliance problem.
Exempt species
Council publishes a list of species that may be removed without consent, on the basis that they are inappropriate for their surrounds. The list has historically included species such as box elder, tree of heaven, evergreen alder, cocos palm, hackberry, small-leaved privet, sweet pittosporum, Lombardy poplar, black locust, weeping willow, umbrella tree, silk tree and rubber tree, along with several palms.
There is also a second tier: certain species may be pruned or removed without consent only where the tree is less than ten metres in height. That tier has included species such as bunya pine, hoop pine and Norfolk Island pine.
The exempt list is the part of The Hills Shire controls most likely to have changed, so check Council’s current tree management fact sheet rather than an article, and get the species identified properly. Misidentification is the most common reason an exemption turns out not to apply.
Fruit trees
Council states that consent is not required to remove a tree grown for its fruit. The wording in Council’s fact sheet material is a fruit tree or tree grown for the purposes of fruit production, excluding naturally growing native fruiting species.
That exclusion matters on Hills properties with remnant native vegetation. A lilly pilly or a native fig that happens to fruit is not a fruit tree for this purpose.
Trees close to a dwelling
Council also exempts trees within a set distance of an existing approved dwelling or ancillary structure, where that structure was approved through a development application or a complying development certificate and sits on the same lot as the tree.
A word of caution here. Council’s current fact sheet and its older tree management guidelines state different distances for this exemption, and both documents are still circulating online. The distance is measured from the face of the trunk closest to the structure to the external wall or roof line. Because this is the exemption people rely on most often, and because getting it wrong is an offence, confirm the current distance against Council’s current fact sheet before any work. We check this at the time of the assessment rather than quoting a figure from memory.
Dead, dying or dangerous trees
Trees that Council is satisfied are dead, dying or dangerous are exempt. As with every Sydney council we have examined, the words that do the work are “Council is satisfied”. Council’s guidance has historically required evidence to be supplied, including photographs and, where the evidence is unclear, an arborist report confirming the condition of the tree.
Remove first and argue afterwards and the burden of proof sits with you. Get the evidence and Council’s position before the work, not after. Our post on emergency tree work and what counts as an imminent risk covers how that evidence is assembled.
When do the exemptions not apply?
The exemptions give way where removal would breach other legislation. The clearest case is the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, for example where a tree forms part of a threatened ecological community or provides habitat for threatened species. Aboriginal places and heritage listings also override the ordinary exemptions.
Parts of The Hills Shire carry Cumberland Plain Woodland and Shale Sandstone Transition Forest, both critically endangered ecological communities. Those overlays sit above the size thresholds and the exempt species list, and they are checked through mapping rather than assumed.
What if the tree work is part of a building project?
Where tree work forms part of development requiring consent, it is assessed inside that application rather than through a separate Tree Management Permit. That is the standard position across Sydney and it holds in The Hills.
Two consequences follow, and both cost people time.
The first is sequencing. If you lodge a tree application for a tree that is going to be affected by a development application anyway, it will generally be rolled into the development assessment. Working out which pathway applies before lodging anything avoids paying a fee for the wrong form.
The second is that the tree assessment has to be done early enough to influence the design. Once a slab position is fixed and the drawings are with the certifier, the arboricultural advice is reduced to documenting an impact rather than avoiding one. Where trees are to be retained, AS 4970 Protection of Trees on Development Sites governs how the protection zones are calculated and what may happen inside them, and that is a document the consent authority will want to see for anything substantial.
The soil level provision reinforces the point. Substantially altering the soil level within three metres of a protected trunk needs consent in its own right, which means site works, regrading and access routes for machinery all need thinking about before anyone is on site.
Will you have to plant a replacement tree?
For trees on public land, Council’s position is explicit: permit approvals are subject to replacement planting with another tree of the same species, or an alternative species suited to the site conditions. The replacement is to be purchased in accordance with the relevant specification for trees, maintained including watering and weeding to ensure it establishes, and replaced if it has not established satisfactorily within twelve months.
For private trees, replacement conditions are common across Sydney councils and should be assumed rather than hoped against. Budget for it when you cost the removal, and raise species suitability at the application stage rather than discovering a condition that conflicts with the position you had in mind.
Why would a permit be refused?
Council is unusually direct about this, and the list is worth reading before you apply. Permission will generally not be granted to remove a tree because:
- It is shedding leaves, fruit, bark, cones or twigs
- It is causing overshadowing
- The applicant seeks to improve views
- There are fears about healthy trees falling
- Minor lifting of driveways and paths by tree roots has occurred
Every one of those is a real reason people want a tree gone, and none of them will carry an application on its own. What does carry an application is documented evidence: structural defect, disease, decline, or a conflict with a structure that cannot be managed any other way.
That is the practical argument for an assessment before the application rather than after a refusal. Sydney Tree Company provides tree health inspection and arborist advice and can tell you honestly whether an application is likely to succeed.
How do you apply?
Applications are made through Council’s Tree Management Application form, and they cover assessment for removal, pruning by more than ten per cent, and general advice on private trees.
A few practical points drawn from Council’s own form and guidance:
- Trees should be numbered and marked on a plan or photographs, so there is no ambiguity about which tree is which
- Supporting material may be attached, including pest reports, arborist reports, plumber’s reports or structural engineer’s reports
- A fee applies, with Council’s form historically structured around a band for one to three trees and additional fees for each tree beyond that
- Council will not issue removal permits to people who do not own the tree. The owner of the land the trunk sits on applies, or their authorised agent with the owner’s consent
Current fees and assessment timeframes are published by Council and change, so check them at the time you apply.
What about trees on Council land?
There are no exemptions for trees on public land in The Hills Shire. A permit is required for any removal, and a permit is required for any pruning, with no ten per cent allowance.
Council’s public tree material also requires that all works on trees be undertaken by a minimum AQF Level 3 arborist, in accordance with AS 4373-2007 and Safe Work Australia’s guidance on managing the risks of tree trimming and removal work.
Where a public tree is approved for removal, Council applies replacement planting conditions: another tree of the same species, or an alternative species suitable to the site conditions, purchased in accordance with the relevant specification for trees, maintained including watering and weeding to ensure establishment, and replaced if it has not established satisfactorily within twelve months.
Neighbour disputes: what Council will and will not do
The Hills Shire is explicit on this and it saves a lot of wasted phone calls.
Council does not have the authority to direct a neighbour to prune or remove trees located on private property unless an imminent danger exists. Council is also unable to negotiate or intervene in neighbourhood tree disputes. These are civil matters to be resolved between the parties.
Where a dispute cannot be resolved, the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 provides the formal pathway in NSW, and an arborist’s assessment is normally part of making a case under it. In the meantime, the ten per cent pruning allowance, exercised from your own property and in accordance with AS 4373, is the limit of what you can do unilaterally.
Get the tree measured and identified before you assume
Because The Hills Shire uses size as the gateway, and measures trunk diameter at the base rather than at breast height, the single most useful thing before any decision is an accurate measurement and a confident species identification. Both take minutes on site and both determine whether you need a permit at all.
Sydney Tree Company works across Castle Hill and the surrounding Hills district, providing tree removal, pruning, stump grinding and tree health inspection, and assistance with council tree preservation paperwork.
Call 0431 732 265 to arrange a free quote and an on-site assessment.