Our community highly values established trees in urban areas because of their benefits to our health and wellbeing. Trees provide shade and are critical in supporting biodiversity, mitigating heat and preserving our natural amenity.

The City is aware that development can result in large-scale removal of established trees and urban design that is unsuitable for future tree planting.

Our Tree Protection and Management Local Planning Policy (policy) aims to minimise the removal of trees defined as protected trees and encourage tree planting through consideration during the early stages of planning and development.

A tree that:

1. is not included on a Commonwealth, State or Local Government weed register; and
2. has a:

• height of at least 4m; or
• trunk diameter of at least 160mm, measured 1m from ground level; or
• canopy width of at least 4m, measured by the longest spread from edge to edge across the crown.

The Urban Forest Plan (UFP) recognises the important services that trees provide in urban areas. It aims to support and enhance our urban forest through the City’s operations and in the wider community.

The policy was created to meet the following action item in the UFP:

P1.1 Adopt a local planning framework to guide vegetation protection and retention through all stages of planning and development, including compliance with relevant Australian Standards.

The City conducted thorough background research, evaluated existing tree protection policies, and assessed them against development patterns happening in our area. The policy was shaped and improved through a series of meetings with internal partners and preliminary consultation with key stakeholders in the development industry.

The policy is designed to encourage urban developers to retain trees and plan for tree planting during the early stages of planning and development. As such, any individuals and/or organisations engaging in development activities on all land except Rural Zoned Land as defined in the City’s Local Planning Scheme No. 17 will be required meet the policy provisions that apply to the relevant planning stage.

Exemptions can be found under Clause 5.2 of the policy.

You will be required to submit information about trees that will be impacted with your application. This information will include tree height, canopy diameter, the health of the tree and more. The information required will be different depending on the stage of planning and development. An important requirement is that protected trees are to be retained and protected unless removal is approved as part of a subdivision or development approval.

If you are preparing a structure plan or local development plan you need to submit a Local Tree Management Strategy as part of the Structure Plan submission to the City. Clause 5.3.2 of the Policy lists the information that must be included in a Local Tree Management Strategy. Further information regarding Structure Plans can be found here.

The City requires a Tree Retention Plan before providing advice to the Western Australian Planning Commission on subdivision applications. More information regarding the subdivision process can be found here.

When the City receives a development application, the site plans will need to indicate the location and species of all trees accurately on the property.

A report by a qualified Arborist showing location, species, size, health and tree protection zones is required as part of any of the above applications.

The policy only applies when development is planned. The policy does not determine how you manage trees on your property.

If you are planning to develop your property, you may be required to meet the policy requirements. If your development is for a single dwelling that meets the deemed-to-comply provisions of the residential design codes (Volume 1) and is not within a heritage area or on the City’s heritage list then the policy does not apply.

In all cases, whether a DA is required or not, the City encourages the retention and care of trees meeting the policy’s protected tree criteria.

A local planning policy is a guiding document that must be considered in decision making, unlike a scheme which has statutory effect. Decision-makers are not legally bound by local planning policies, but they do have an obligation to use the local planning policy when assessing and determining development applications and other planning proposals (such as Structure Plans and Subdivision applications) that are relevant to the policy.

The policy is proactive and aims to work with developers to identify, retain and protect established trees as early as possible in the planning process. Landowners and developers can access a map layer via Intramaps showing protected trees meeting the canopy height criteria on their land in 2024. City officers will have access to this information and may also undertake inspections when development works are approved near a protected tree.

The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage have announced the Perth-Peel Urban Greening Strategy to be developed by the Western Australian Planning Commission. You can find more information at the WA State Government website.