Cottesloe council is reviewing its local planning framework and actively considering changes to protect significant trees on private land, according to council administrators.
Review of Local Planning Policies
Council administrators report that town staff will review over the next six months local planning policies for tree retention on private land adopted by several similar local governments. The council wants to see how the policies might apply to the town and then intends to consider the merits of introducing its own policy in the first half of 2027.
The update was part of an administrative response to five questions taken on notice, submitted by Cottesloe resident Peter Rattigan, that were included in an agenda document prepared for Tuesday night’s ordinary council meeting.
Current Framework and Tree Removal
Officers said the council was also progressing its green infrastructure strategy, set up to help preserve Cottesloe’s urban canopy, which comprises three-yearly flyovers to measure canopy growth and identify significant trees on public land. They said removing a tree on private property may already require development approval, in some circumstances, although the current planning framework did not include provisions that applied in Cottesloe to determine when the approval was required.
The town does not take any steps to inform local property owners they were required to obtain approval before they remove or destroy a significant tree on their land, administrators said in the agenda document for Tuesday’s ordinary council meeting.
“The town does not have a local planning policy for tree retention on private property, which identifies what may be determined as a significant tree, or, which sets out any formal policy process to be undertaken to consider tree retention as part of the development approval process,” the council states. “The town is, however, reviewing its local planning framework to consider the introduction of such a policy and is active in this regard.”
Growing Trend Among Perth Councils
Cottesloe would join a growing list of Perth councils, including Claremont, Stirling and Vincent north of the river, and South Perth, Melville and Fremantle in Perth’s southern suburbs, that are developing or have advertised or enacted their own local planning strategy to protect significant trees on private land.
They were prompted to do so when the WA Local Government Association released a model planning policy in 2024 to respond to metropolitan-wide concerns about Perth’s rapidly declining tree canopy. The new local planning policies are generally based on WALGA’s model but can include additions specific to each council’s local community.
The State’s Heritage Council also released its own guidelines in January setting out a process for identifying and assessing trees and groups of trees that may have State or local cultural heritage significance. The document explains how trees with cultural heritage value should be managed, alongside local planning processes.
Definition of Regulated Trees and Exemptions
New planning policies for significant trees aim to provide private landholders with a clear definition of a regulated tree and set out when development approval is required for any “tree damaging” activities, such as removal, significant branch lopping or actions that could damage tree roots. Importantly, the policies also allow for everyday gardening activities such as routine pruning to continue as normal, and offer exemptions for situations such as hazardous trees and bushfire management.
Regulated trees are those that are at least 8m high, have an average canopy diameter of at least 6m or a trunk circumference of at least 1.5m. This also includes trees that were required to be planted as replacements to offset tree loss from developments but does not include registered weed species. Exemptions are generally given for palm, cypress or fruit trees, if damage to trees is deemed “urgently necessary” for public safety or to protect a property.
Councils may face additional resourcing costs, including staff members, to implement the new policies.
