New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

BLUE MOUNTAINS LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN 2005 - REG 54

54 Preservation of trees

(1) Notwithstanding clause 32 (Land use matrix), development consent is not required if a person cuts down, tops, lops, prunes, removes, injures or wilfully destroys any tree in accordance with--

(a) a written permission (
"permit" ) granted by Council, which may be given subject to such conditions as the Council considers necessary, or

(b) an exception specified in subclause (2), or

(c) the requirements for pruning in subclauses (4) and (5), or

(d) the requirements for transplanting in subclause (6).

(2) Exceptions Subject to subclause (3), development consent or a permit referred to in subclause (1) (a) is not required in relation to--

(a) any tree, if documented evidence can be produced that is satisfactory to the Council to prove that--

(i) the tree was dead and was not a
"likely habitat tree" specified in an order made under subclause (7), or

(ii) the tree posed an imminent danger to property or life, or

(iii) taking the action concerned with respect to the tree was reasonably necessary to protect human life, buildings or other property from imminent danger from a bush fire burning in the vicinity of the land on which the tree was situated, or

(b) the removal of a tree where that removal is essential for emergency access or emergency works authorised by the Council, the State Emergency Service or any public authority, or

(c) the removal of trees in association with the construction or use of a building or work for which development consent has been granted, including the ongoing maintenance of fuel load limits within identified and approved asset protection zones, but only in accordance with the terms and conditions of that consent, or

(d) any tree with a height less than 4 metres and with a foliage crown spread of less than 4 metres, but only if the tree is not native vegetation within bushland, or

(e) trees of any of the following species, but only if documented evidence can be produced that is satisfactory to the Council to prove that the individual specimens concerned are less than 10.0 metres in height--

(i) Salix spp. (all Willow species), or

(ii) Populus spp. (all Poplar species), or

(f) a Pinus Radiata, but only if the tree is less than 10.0 metres in height and is not located on land--

(i) within the Living--Conservation zone, or

(ii) to which Part 1 (Mount Victoria), Part 6 (Wentworth Falls), Part 7 (Lawson), Part 8 (Hazelbrook) or Part 9 (Springwood) of Schedule 1 (Locality management within the Villages) applies, or

(g) a plant referred to in clause 55 (Weed management), except for a plant that is a known sterile cultivated variety of these plants or a plant referred to in paragraph (e) or (f), or

(h) the removal or trimming of any trees in accordance with Part 2 of the Electricity Supply (General) Regulation 2001 , or

(i) the removal or trimming of any trees in accordance with sections 88, 107, 138 and 139 of the Roads Act 1993 , or

(j) the removal or clearing of any trees in conjunction with works approved under Part 5 of the Act, or

(k) the removal of trees in accordance with an order issued by the Council under the provisions of the Act or the Local Government Act 1993 .

(3) Heritage items, heritage conservation areas, significant trees and approved landscaping Nothing in subclause (2) (d)-(k) removes the requirement for development consent or written permission to cut down, top, lop, prune, remove, injure or wilfully destroy any tree that is--

(a) a heritage item or part of a heritage item, or

(b) within a heritage conservation area, or

(c) listed on Council's Significant Tree Register (which is available for inspection at the office of the Council), or

(d) part of landscape planting required by a development consent.

(4) Pruning Nothing in this clause requires development consent or permission of the Council for the following--

(a) pruning of a hedge by no more than 20 per cent of its height or width in any one year, so that the overall height is not reduced below 1.5 metres,

(b) the seasonal pruning of fruit trees for the purpose of maintaining fruit production, but this exemption does not apply to Acmena spp. or Syzygium spp. (Lilly pilly), Elaeocarpus spp. (Blueberry Ash), Ficus coronata (Sandpaper Fig) or F. rubiginosa (Rusty or Port Jackson Fig),

(c) "deadwooding", being the removal of dead wood from a tree, if the branches removed are not branches with hollows on a
"likely habitat tree" specified in an order made under subclause (7),

(d) selective pruning, being only pruning to remove branches back to the nearest branch collar or junction to clear a roof, where trees directly overhang the roof of a dwelling, garage or commercial building, and only if the owner of the land where the centre of the tree originated or where the majority of the trunk of the tree is growing, is in agreement,

(e) to remove any species of parasitic mistletoe or parasitic plant from any part of a tree to ameliorate the effects on the tree from such a parasite.

(5) This clause does not allow pruning of a tree unless it is carried out in accordance with Australian Standard AS 4373--1996, Pruning of amenity trees .

(6) Transplanting The following may be transplanted without development consent or the permission of the Council--

(a) specimens that have originated in and have grown continuously in a container which is not permanently fixed to a structure,

(b) a tree that has remained continuously confined within a container, but not a tree in a planter box where the box is part of a building,

(c) a field-grown tree propagated as part of a commercial horticultural or agricultural enterprise for the purposes of harvesting and selling it as an advanced specimen for relocation and re-establishment.

(7) The Council may, by its order, specify particular trees, or trees of a species or other class, to be
"likely habitat trees" for the purposes of this clause.